IC-NRLF 


THE  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETINS 

NUMBER  I 

A  SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

AS  AN 
EDUCATIONAL  LABORATORY 


BY 


WILLIAM   SETCHEL  LEARNED,  PH.D. 

OF  THE  CARNEGIE  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE 
ADVANCEMENT  OF  TEACHING 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 
JULY,  1914 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

To  this  Bulletin  its  projectors  at  Harvard  and  Newton  attach 
special  significance.  It  records  the  beginnings  of  an  enterprise 
in  which  the  Harvard  Division  of  Education  hopes  in  part  to 
realize  one  of  its  fundamental  aims  —  the  solution  of  educational 
problems  through  research  in  the  schools.  The  program  of 
investigation  the  Bulletin  presents  is  suggestive;  and  as  this 
program  is  gradually  elaborated  and  carried  out  either  in 
Newton  or  elsewhere,  it  promises  to  yield  results  of  objective 
value.  Of  equal  importance  is  the  cooperative  scheme  by  which 
it  is  proposed  that  these  results  be  reached.  The  study  of  school 
problems  is  not  solely  a  function  of  university  investigators,  but 
of  all  teachers;  and  that  teachers  share  the  scientific  labor  which 
educational  progress  now  demands  is  essential  both  for  the  sake 
of  the  school  and  for  the  sake  of  the  teachers  themselves.  Dr. 
Learned  has  himself  traced,  in  a  study  about  to  be  issued  by  the 
Harvard  University  Press,  the  growth  of  teachers  in  Germany,  as 
a  class,  toward  the  genuine  professional  freedom  and  mastery 
which  such  sharing  produces.  This  Bulletin  records  what  is 
probably  the  first  attempt  in  America  to  make  a  school  system 
its  own  educational  laboratory. 

A  second  Bulletin  in  this  series  is  shortly  to  follow,  setting  forth 
the  results  of  the  effort  to  secure  scales  for  the  measurement  of 
eighth  grade  English  Composition.  The  results  of  other  studies 
now  in  progress  will  be  published  in  subsequent  issues. 

These  Bulletins  are  the  outgrowth  of  an  agreement,  now  of  six 
years'  standing,  between  the  School  Department  of  the  City  of 


384686 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


Newton  and  the  Division  of  Education  of  Harvard  University. 
But  for  the  breadth  of  view  of  the  Newton  School  Committee 
and  the  generous  interest  of  Mr.  Joseph  Lee,  this  cooperation 
could  not  have  taken  its  present  productive  form. 


EDITORIAL 
COMMITTEE 


HENRY  W.  HOLMES, 

Harvard  University. 

PAUL  H.  HANUS, 

Harvard  University. 

FRANK  E.  SPAULDING, 

Newton,  Massachusetts. 


THE 
HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETINS 

NUMBER  I 

A  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  AS  AN  EDUCATIONAL 
LABORATORY 

I.   GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

The  conception  implied  bythe  title  of  this  paper  has  its  warrant 
in  the  belief  that  education,  especially  during  the  past  decade, 
has  steadily  strengthened  its  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  science; 
which  implies  the  further  belief  that  certain  "  best  "  or  standard 
methods  for  its  processes  can  properly  be  determined  and  formu- 
lated only  under  experimental  conditions.  If  these  beliefs  are 
justified,  the  question  at  once  arises:  How  can  educational  opera- 
tions be  subjected  most  speedily  and  accurately  to  experimental 
treatment  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  has  hitherto  been 
attempted  in  a  variety  of  ways.  University  teachers  of  Educa- 
tion and  psychologists  who  have  concerned  themselves  primarily 
with  the  educational  aspects  of  their  field  have  made  more  or 
less  systematic  invasion  of  certain  schools  or  classes  with  a  degree 
of  "  cooperation  "  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  that  has  varied  from 
a  simple  permission  to  experiment  to  a  more  or  less  willing  partici- 
pation in  the  tabulation  of  results  under  minute  instructions. 
Certain  superintendents,  principals,  or  teachers  have  occasion- 
ally discerned  problems,  organized  and  carried  out  tests,  and 
formulated  results.  In  at  least  one  instance  a  school  system  has 
established  a  laboratory,  engaged  a  trained  psychologist,  and 
placed  the  schools  at  his  disposal  for  the  investigation  of  educa- 
tional problems.  To  such  varied,  unrelated,  and  haphazard 
efforts  is  due  the  present  array  of  reliable  results  which  have  been 
won  by  formal  experiment  at  home  and  abroad.  This  array  is 


6  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

by  no  means  insignificant  under  the  circumstances.  The  ques- 
tion is:  Can  the  circumstances  be  improved  ? 

Aside  from  the  incidental  and  heterogeneous  character  of  such 
experiment  as  has  hitherto  been  made,  there  exists  a  further  diffi- 
culty which  at  times  is  most  discouraging.  Experiments  once  or 
many  times  fruitfully  carried  out  produce  little  immediate  re- 
action in  general  practice.  Theorists  in  schools  of  education 
note  the  point,  and  incorporate  it  into  their  lectures.  Beyond 
this  progress  is  slow.  It  is  indeed  fortunate  for  a  school  system 
if  even  the  superintendent  keeps  abreast  of  the  really  scientific 
literature  of  his  profession.  Even  when  this  is  the  case  the  cam- 
paign has  but  just  begun.  Provided  the  new  idea  is  not  capable 
of  such  commercial  exploitation  as  will  induce  the  book  or  supply 
companies  to  undertake  the  education  of  the  teachers,  this  edu- 
cation must  be  accomplished  by  the  patient  but  relentless  insist- 
ence of  the  administrative  and  supervisory  officers.  Not  in- 
frequently it  proves  impossible  unless  the  teachers  can  be  taken 
young  and  unprejudiced,  and  actually  be  trained  to  the  new 
point  of  view.  For  this  the  rapid  changing  of  administrative 
officers  in  most  of  our  school  systems  allows  but  little  chance, 
and  the  progressive  superintendent  often  faces  what  must  seem 
to  him  a  well-nigh  hopeless  task. 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  the  present  state  of  things,  professional 
progress  in  education  depends  upon  two  clearly  distinguishable 
sets  of  individuals.  The  first  is  a  group  of  genuine  and  usually 
lifelong  students  of  education  who  have  won  their  training 
through  arduous  experience  and  concentrated  effort.  To  these 
are  due  the  novel  insights  and  the  major  inspirations  for  educa- 
tional advance.  The  second  class  consists  of  more  or  less  con- 
ventional practitioners,  well  above  the  average  in  personal 
character,  but  singularly  distinct  from  the  first  class  in  their 
professional  attitude.  Among  this  class  of  teachers  the  notion 
of  education  as  a  profession  is  rudimentary.  Their  work  has 
been  taken  up  without  great  thought  or  preparation.  It  may 
be  relinquished  with  equal  ease  and  would  preferably  be  relin- 
quished by  very  many  for  almost  any  other  occupation  with  like 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  7 

hours  and  salary.  As  the  necessity  gradually  appears  of  making 
it  a  life  work,  interest  and  devotion  usually  increase,  but  with  a 
strongly  personal  center.  One  teaches  English,  or  Latin,  or  the 
seventh  grade,  or  is  a  principal,  not  as  cooperating  in  a  thoroughly 
comprehended  whole,  but  because  he  chances  to  fill  that  niche, 
and  he  does  it  well  because  his  self-respect  demands  that  he  be 
master  in  his  own  house.  When  he  has  properly  defended  his 
department,  given  a  round  answer  to  his  critics,  and  commiserated 
feelingly  with  parents  about  the  uncertainties  of  pedagogical  pro- 
cedure, he  considers  his  duty  done.  With  his  modest  economic 
basis  assured,  routine  soon  hems  him  in;  a  breach  develops  be- 
tween that  routine  and  his  own  inner  life,  and  his  leisure  hours 
together  with  his  long  vacations  go  primarily  to  satisfy  his  tastes. 
In  short,  he  has  no  profession.  An  absorbing  and  consuming 
vocational  passion  such  as  is  the  glory  of  the  artist,  the  physician, 
and  even  sometimes  of  the  lawyer  —  of  any  one,  indeed,  who 
through  years  of  hard  technical  training  must  vividly  picture  to 
himself  the  ultimate  significance  of  it  all  —  this  for  him  does  not 
exist.  He  has  undergone  no  technical  schooling,  has  made  no 
sacrifices,  and  is  professionally  unattached.  How  can  he  feel 
attracted  to  the  fellowship  of  men  from  whom,  as  from  himself, 
nothing  has  been  required  ?  How  can  he  fail  to  feel  a  certain 
scorn  for  an  occupation  in  which  his  crude  and  unskilled  attempts 
have  been  blindly  commended  and  supported  ?  This  failure  to 
involve  the  whole  man  in  his  work  reacts  directly  upon  his  atti- 
tude toward  progressive  movements  and  new  ideas.  Without 
training  that  is  genuinely  scientific,  he  is  proverbially  conserva- 
tive; scientific  criticism  is  taken  personally  and  worries  him;  a 
really  radical  question  has  often  ceased  altogether  to  trouble  him 
except  perfunctorily.  In  many  cases  he  is  wholly  inaccessible  to 
change  from  without,  and  is  apparently  powerless  to  accomplish 
it  from  within.  There  is,  usually,  however,  an  abundance  of 
good  will  together  with  a  genuine  desire  to  serve;  it  is  the  drill 
in  certain  mental  attitudes,  the  background  of  training,  the  habit 
of  objective  insight  that  is  lacking. 


8  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

Of  course  these  two  groups  shade  from  one  into  the  other  by 
imperceptible  degrees.  Not  all  teachers  are  wholly  one  or  wholly 
the  other.  Nevertheless  the  two  poles  of  tendency  are  clearly 
discernible  and  their  separation  constitutes  a  fundamental  weak- 
ness in  modern  American  education.  What  course  of  develop- 
ment will  best  and  most  quickly  abolish  this  essential  dualism  of 
attitude  and  capacity  ?  Is  it  possible  to  replace  the  present 
tandem  of  enthusiastic  expert  and  inert  colleague  or  assistant 
by  a  team  with  similar  training  and  a  strong  and  intelligent  pro- 
fessional sympathy  ? 

There  are  thus  two  problems  the  solution  of  which  seems  to 
be  fundamentally  important  in  securing  the  sound  and  rapid  ad- 
vance of  education:  first,  how  to  get  educational  processes  con- 
clusively tested  by  competent  observation  under  experimental 
control;  second,  how  to  professionalize  the  whole  number  of 
practitioners  engaged  in  education  for  the  sake  of  a  quick  and 
efficient  response  to  a  steadily  improving  educational  system. 
Before  setting  forth  suggestions  for  this  purpose  the  writer 
would  like  to  point  out  an  analogy  and  a  contrast  observable  in  a 
sister  profession  which  has  had  precisely  the  same  problems  to 
face  and  which  has  gone  far  toward  their  solution. 

Society  demands  that  medical  or  surgical  skill  be  indefinitely 
duplicated  in  individual  practitioners.  Healing  is  not  usually 
projected  from  an  intelligent  center  at  a  distance  through  a  less 
intelligent  agent  on  the  spot.  It  is  of  no  great  moment  to  a 
patient  that  his  doctor  belongs  to  a  society  of  good  doctors  unless 
he  is  professionally  in  their  class.  Conscious  of  this  the  medical 
profession  has  laid  and  does  lay  the  greatest  emphasis  upon  an 
adequate  and,  as  nearly  as  possible,  uniform  training  among  its 
members.  At  least  two  years  of  college,  four  years  of  medical 
school,  and  one  or  two  years  of  hospital  practice  constitute  to-day 
the  accepted  standard  of  preparation  in  that  profession. 

The  effect  of  this  training  in  the  two  directions  suggested  by 
our  discussion  is  of  course  obvious  and  complete:  every  physi- 
cian so  trained  is  master  both  of  his  material  and  of  a  thoroughly 
scientific  method  which  habitually  determines  his  diagnosis  and 


HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN  9 

prescription.  He  reports  his  exceptional  or  striking  cases  through 
his  medical  journals  in  terms  which  place  the  facts  reliably  before 
his  colleagues.  He  himself  in  turn  is  in  a  position  fully  to  grasp 
and  act  upon  the  most  highly  specialized  investigations  of  the 
medical  school  or  laboratory.  The  village  physician  feels  him- 
self the  complete  intellectual  comrade  of  the  metropolitan  special- 
ist; their  ways  diverge  long  after  a  lasting  professional  sympathy 
and  understanding  has  been  established. 

In  these  respects  the  teaching  profession  is  wholly  analogous. 
Though  not  as  completely  as  the  physician,  yet  essentially  and 
increasingly,  the  teacher  works  directly  with  individuals,  and 
society  will  eventually  demand  that  adequate  knowledge  and 
skill  be  fully  duplicated  in  every  teacher.  How  is  a  child  en- 
trusted for  the  better  part  of  each  day  to  an  ignorant,  unskilled, 
and  careless  teacher  in  a  greatly  better  case  than  the  patient 
exposed  to  a  sham  doctor  ?  It  is  very  probable  also  that  a 
training  of  equal  length  and  appropriateness  would  accomplish 
for  the  teacher  what  the  physician  secures  from  his.  He  would 
become  master  of  his  material  and  of  a  scientific  method  in  solv- 
ing his  problems;  he  would  report  reliable  and  valuable  contri- 
butions to  professional  knowledge  in  a  form  intelligible  to  others 
similarly  trained;  and  he  would  be  in  a  position,  and  would  be 
disposed,  justly  to  evaluate  and  act  upon  the  findings  of  others 
when  so  contributed. 

At  another  point  the  medical  profession  affords  an  instructive 
contrast  to  that  of  the  teacher  —  one  which  reveals  an  advan- 
tage for  education  of  which  almost  no  systematic  use  has  yet 
been  made.  The  physician  works  as  an  individual  at  an  inde- 
pendent enterprise;  hence  the  possibilities  for  making  the  vast 
mass  of  accruing  experience  available  for  the  medical  profession 
as  a  whole  have  been  limited  —  dependent  upon  voluntary  re- 
ports or  the  pickings  of  compilers.  It  is  obvious  that  the  remark- 
able strides  recently  witnessed  in  medicine  and  surgery  could 
never  have  been  accomplished  on  this  basis,  and  the  extensive 
development  of  hospitals  and  their  intimate  relations  with  bodies 
of  investigators  in  medical  schools  testify  to  the  present  depend- 


io  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

ence  of  medical  science  upon  organized  treatment  and  experi- 
ments. Education,  on  the  other  hand,  enjoys  the  benefit  of  an 
incomparable  organization.  Lacking  the  power  to  provide  a 
skilled  tutor  for  every  child,  we  have  gathered  as  many  as  pos- 
sible under  the  same  instruction,  and  when  the  number  of  skilled 
teachers  failed  even  then  to  meet  the  growing  demand  for  educa- 
tion, we  have  endeavored,  through  an  elaborate  system  of  super- 
vision of  the  unskilled,  by  the  skilled,  to  make  experience  and 
ability  tell  to  the  utmost.  This  complex  organization  will 
doubtless  be  retained,  even  if  the  number  of  skilled  teachers 
should  rapidly  increase;  economy,  the  modern  division  of  labor 
in  education,  and  good  school  psychology  all  support  it.  Here 
then  the  science  of  education  has,  and  has  long  had,  ready  to 
hand  all  the  conditions  for  progress  which  medicine  and  surgery 
have  had  so  laboriously  to  build  up,  and  from  which  they  have 
reaped  their  finest  fruits. 

Unhappily  almost  no  conscious  and  systematic  use  of  these 
conditions  for  the  purposes  of  discovery  has  yet  been  made  in 
education.  It  is  as  if  a  great  hospital  should  proceed  forever 
administering  the  same  remedies  in  the  same  way,  refusing  or 
ejecting  all  genuine  problem-cases,  and  aware  of  no  obligation  to 
make  its  experience  systematic  and  profitable  for  the  future. 
Changes  in  education  are  at  present  much  more  likely  to  follow 
the  proposals  of  some  plausible  but  subjective  reformer  than  to 
be  the  result  of  careful  and  repeated  tests  under  varied  conditions; 
and  the  critical  professional  attitude  which  the  intelligent  physi- 
cian habitually  assumes  toward  his  problems  and  procedures  has 
been  conspicuously  absent. 

II.  THE  NEWTON  EXPERIMENT 

(a)  Preliminary 

Under  the  impulse  of  such  general  considerations  as  these,  the 
writer,  in  February,  1912,  put  before  the  chairman  of  the  Divi- 
sion of  Education  at  Harvard  a  proposal  intended  as  a  step 
towards  reform,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  same  proposal  was 
laid  before  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Newton,  Mass.,  who 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  n 

was  at  the  time  an  associated  lecturer  at  Cambridge.  Both  of 
these  gentlemen  displayed  great  interest  and  confidence  in  the 
plan;  and  with  their  cooperation  and  the  generous  assistance  of 
Mr.  Joseph  Lee  of  Boston,  who  shared  the  expense,  a  definite 
arrangement  was  made.  It  was  our  idea  to  organize  in  the 
Newton  School  System  a  Department  of  Educational  Research 
which  should  be  constantly  and  intimately  in  touch  with  the 
University  Department  of  Education.  The  director  was  to  be  a 
regularly  appointed  official  of  the  Newton  Schools,  and  was  at 
the  same  time  to  retain  his  status  as  Research  Fellow  in  the 
University.  This  joint  relationship  was  deemed  an  essential 
part  of  the  plan  and  proved  toj3e  of  great  value.  On  the  one 
hand  it  guaranteed  that  the  work  which  should  be  undertaken 
would  receive  close  criticism  from  a  point  of  view  not  usually 
allowed  its  due  weight  in  the  treatment  of  practical  school  prob- 
lems; on  the  other  hand  that  very  point  of  view  would  be  sub- 
jected to  continual  modifications  from  contact,  not  with  an 
artificial  practice-class  or  school,  but  with  actual  operating  con- 
ditions in  a  large  public  school  system.  The  already  existing 
cooperation  between  the  Newton  School  System  and  the  Harvard 
Division  of  Education  greatly  favored  the  plan.  In  accordance 
with  a  suggestion  made  by  Dr.  Spaulding,  Superintendent  of 
Schools  in  Newton,  the  students  in  Professor  Hanus's  Courses  in 
School  Administration  had  been  engaged  in  the  study  of  school 
problems  in  Newton  since  1910.  Competent  graduate  students 
had  worked  in  cooperation  with  Newton  principals  and  teachers 
on  the  problems  actually  arising  in  the  schools. 

The  duties  of  the  director  were  conceived  to  be  twofold:  his 
first  and  most  important  business  was  to  assist  the  teachers  in 
the  school-system  in  their  efforts  at  independent  criticism  and 
investigation  of  their  own  work  and  of  the  educational  procedures 
going  on  about  them.  The  purpose  was  to  meet  them  individu- 
ally, by  grades,  by  schools,  or,  in  the  high  schools,  by  depart- 
ments, —  wherever  a  teacher  or  group  of  teachers  could  be  found 
ready  to  analyze  and  attack  either  self-suggested  or  recommended 
problems.  The  director  was  to  assist  by  criticism,  suggestion, 


12  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

reference  to  literature  of  the  topic,  and  by  communicating  the 
work  and  results  of  others;  by  furnishing  a  public,  as  it  were, 
for  the  many  experiments  and  reforms  with  which  most  progres- 
sive teachers  begin  the  year,  but  which  usually  prove  abortive 
from  sheer  lack  of  nourishment  or  from  failure  to  arrange  the 
conditions  and  to  foot  up  the  results  in  a  scientific  fashion.  The 
second  main  activity  of  the  director,  distinctly  subordinate  to 
the  first,  was,  of  course,  to  conduct  independent  studies  of  his 
own,  or  such  as  were  of  interest  mainly  to  the  superintendent 
and  supervisory  staff.  It  was  the  intention,  however,  that  even 
these  should  be  discussed  with  all  who  could  possibly  have  an 
interest  in  them  in  order  to  emphasize  everywhere  the  method 
and  attitude  with  which  educational  problems  should  be  ap- 
proached. It  willthus  be  seen  that  the  primary  purpose  of  the 
undertaking  was  not  the  achievement  of  scientific  results  directly, 
but  rather  the  encouragement  and  stimulation  of  the  teachers 
themselves  to  a  new  view  of  the  possibilities,  opportunities,  and 
obligations  of  their  position. 

The  writer,  as  first  incumbent  of  the  new  position,  began  his 
duties  in  September,  1912,  and  continued  until  March,  1913, 
when  circumstances  necessitated  his  withdrawal  to  undertake  an 
educational  investigation  of  a  somewhat  different  nature  else- 
where. It  was  not,  however,  without  keen  regret  at  leaving  so 
prosperous  and  so  absorbing  an  enterprise  that  his  connection 
with  it  was  severed. 

The  undertaking  was  fortunate  from  the  beginning  in  having 
an  unusually  favorable  environment.  At  Newton  a  highly 
selected  class  of  teachers  has  been  rendered  progressively  more 
effective  by  considerate  and  generous  management  as  well  as  by 
the  intelligent  application  of  a  genuine  merit  system  of  promotion 
which  places  a  well-recognized  premium  on  devoted  and  efficient 
service  and  gradually  removes  the  incompetent  teacher.  In 
addition  to  this  the  actual  purpose  in  view  was  by  no  means  new 
to  these  teachers.  Several  of  the  schools  had  already  under- 
taken somewhat  prolonged  studies  either  in  connection  with 
student  investigators  from  the  University  or  independently,  and 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  13 

not  a  few  of  the  principals  had  made  personal  studies  of  value 
or  were  then  engaged  in  them.  Most  of  these  had  been  under- 
taken at  the  instance  of  the  superintendent,  Dr.  Spaulding,  whose 
belief  in  this  phase  of  a  teacher's  work  has  been  equalled  only 
by  his  skill  in  getting  concrete  and  practical  results  from  it. 

(b)  General  Results 

A  somewhat  detailed  review  of  the  program  which  was  laid 
out  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  together  with  a  statement  of 
the  progress  made  up  to  March,  1913,  is  appended  to  this  re- 
port. It  is  only  necessary,  therefore,  at  this  point  to  note  those 
general  features  of  our  experience  which  appear  to  have  value 
for  future  work  of  this  sort. 

i.   Participation  to  be  Voluntary 

It  was  made  especially  emphatic  from  the  outset  that  partici- 
pation in  the  work  proposed  was  voluntary  and  should  not 
interfere  with  school  work.  This  is  not  the  ideal  for  an  ultimate 
policy,  but  at  the  beginning  it  was  necessary.  The  whole  pro- 
posal rests  on  the  belief  that  conscious  analysis,  comparison,  and 
experiment  in  procedure  should  be  fundamental  to  a  profession- 
ally-trained teacher.  It  may  not  ever  be  formally  compulsory, 
but  the  time  must  come  when  these  abilities  will  cease  to  be  in- 
cidental in  the  selection  and  survival  of  instructors.  A  seriously 
intelligent  teacher  when  once  given  the  proper  training  and  the 
correct  point  of  view  must  fairly  bristle  with  problems  arising 
out  of  his  daily  practice.  When  given  a  method  he  will  select 
and  attack  these  sympathetically  and  with  the  energy  of  the 
discoverer  that  he  is.  Without  such  a  point  of  view  or  such 
training  it  is  obvious  enough  that  a  teacher  had  better  continue 
to  imitate  himself  or  others  and  to  maintain  his  established  rou- 
tine than  undertake  to  experiment  merely  for  experiment's  sake. 

The  most  frequent  objection  to  participation  was  lack  of  time. 
In  some  few  cases  this  was  an  unmistakable  cover  for  lack  of 
interest,  or  for  a  conservatism  unfriendly  to  novel  points  of  view; 
in  the  case  of  others  this  objection  was  sincere  but  would  have 


i4  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

been  out-weighed  by  a  clearer  appreciation  of  the  purpose  of  the 
plan;  in  still  other  cases  teachers  had  in  their  devotion  so  over- 
loaded themselves  with  duties  of  apparently  immediate  import- 
ance that  to  ask  more  was  out  of  the  question.  All  this  could  be 
changed  by  (a)  a  practical  program  of  investigation  adjusted 
variously  to  the  problems  of  the  local  groups  and  individuals, 
and  as  far  as  possible  suggested  by  them;  (b)  skillful  direction 
and  organization;  and  (c)  a  gradual  shift  in  perspective  as  to 
what  is  important.  If  through  successful  work  of  this  sort  it 
can  be  shown  that  a  teacher,  a  department,  or  a  school  can 
speedily  analyze  and  correct  its  own  faults  and  advance  its  pro- 
cedure over  that  of  others  working  passively,  a  school  system 
could  well  afford  to  recognize  the  economy  of  this  phase  of  edu- 
cational work  and  provide  due  time  for  it.  Apart  from  the 
tangible  results  so  achieved  the  mere  attitude  of  mind  —  posi- 
tive, tentative,  progressive  —  that  is  capable  of  producing  such 
results  would  denote  a  wholesome  transformation  in  the  body 
of  teachers  as  compared  with  the  present  situation  at  large. 

2.  Organization  should  be  intimate  -with  the  regular  work  of  the 
school. 

Upon  the  plan  and  spirit  of  its  organization  rests  very  largely 
the  success  of  the  proposal.  It  is  suggested  that  school  officers 
and  teachers  learn  to  treat  their  problems  objectively  and  criti- 
cally, and  it  is  expected  that  the  habit  of  mind  thus  acquired 
will  originate  and  clearly  set  forth  many  new  problems.  It  is 
obvious,  therefore,  that  all  that  is  done  in  this  way  must  be  fused 
with  the  passing  problems  of  school  or  teacher,  and  must  be 
directed  by  the  same  hands  that  guide  all  other  school  work. 
It  was  impossible  to  perfect  such  an  organization  at  once  as  the 
proposal  was  too  new,  even  to  principals  and  supervisory  officers. 
It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  longer  to  defer  a  definite  organi- 
zation of  principals  for  this  purpose.  To  lay  all  responsibility 
upon  the  special  assistant  in  the  work  is  directly  to  defeat  its 
intent.  So  conducted,  it  becomes  a  thing  apart,  of  interest  to  a 
few  only.  Both  principals  and  teachers  are  likely  to  view  its 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  15 

demands  not  as  illuminating  and  ultimately  lightening  their 
tasks,  but  as  an  unwelcome  addition  to  their  burdens.  A  director 
capable  of  success  on  a  broad  scale  in  this  way  must  have  powers 
that  are  rare  indeed.  The  principal,  on  the  other  hand,  under- 
takes such  leadership,  not  as  a  new  and  unrelated  task,  but  as 
expressing  in  a  given  case  how  he  expects  all  work  in  the  school 
to  be  approached  and  conducted.  The  special  director  is  his 
assistant  and  adviser,  as  already  described,  to  save  him  time  and 
keep  him  from  mistakes.  At  regular  conferences  the  principal 
discusses  with  his  teachers  the  methods  and  results  of  the  studies 
undertaken,  and  gradually  gathers  up  the  conclusions  in  definite 
form  for  publication.  In  high  schools  this  naturally  falls  to 
department  heads  as  well  as  to  principals.  Groups  of  principals 
have  their  own  problems  to  treat  in  a  similar  fashion  among 
themselves  with  the  superintendent  as  their  leader.  The  super- 
intendent, of  course,  studies  and  coordinates  the  returns  from  all 
sources,  and  sees  to  it  that  the  general  effort  is  properly  focused 
and  utilized.  Some  such  arrangement  as  this  seems  likely  to 
afford  the  best  foundation  for  a  profitable  use  of  the  school 
organization  in  the  direction  suggested.  It  cannot  be  too  clearly 
pointed  out  that  what  is  sought  is  not  an  elaborate  scheme  for 
cultural  improvement  which  is  the  aim  of  reading  circles  and  the 
more  or  less  abstract  lecture  courses  common  among  teachers; 
what  is  proposed  is  nothing  other  than  that  the  school  system 
work  in  a  professional  manner  at  the  intelligent  solution  of  its 
every-day  problems  and  at  making  its  experience  available  for 
future  use. 

3.  Certain  aids  for  this  new  form  of  effort  are  almost  indispens- 
able to  success. 

(i)  Regular  conferences  and  discussions.  The  chief  purpose 
of  the  organization  is  to  rid  the  improvement  of  educational  tech- 
nique of  its  incidental  and  desultory  character;  to  make  each 
step  well-won  lead  to  the  next  at  a  definite  time,  thus  conserving 
the  accumulating  interest  and  sense  of  achievement.  Skillful 
management  of  these  meetings  on  the  part  of  principal,  depart- 


1 6  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

ment  head,  or  superintendent  is  essential  to  save  them  from 
drought.  Immediate  publicity  and  recognition  for  good  work  of 
this  nature  done  by  teachers  together  with  a  disposition  to  put 
results  into  operation  at  once  so  that  the  fruit  of  their  labors 
may  appear,  cannot  fail  to  stimulate  a  sound  interest  and  faith 
in  the  importance  of  such  conferences. 

(2)  Liberal  use  of  the  printing  press  or  duplicating  machine 
and  of  clerical  assistance.     This  should  not  be  at  the  teacher's 
expense  either  in  point  of  time  or  money.     The  mere  physical 
labor  of  providing  copies  of  charts  and  tests  for  studies  in  arith- 
metic, for  example,  is  sufficiently  prohibitive  to  wreck  the  pro- 
ject completely  if  expected  from  the  teachers.     They  must  be 
encouraged  to  shape  their  brain  work  to  the  ends  in  view,  and 
every  reasonable  material  assistance  should  be  freely  provided. 
The  facilities  at  Newton  are  complete  in  this  respect  and  have 
been  very  generously  used.      So  likewise  in  respect  to  clerical 
assistance.      A  few  hours  of  mere  routine  labor  in  correcting, 
checking,  or  tabulating  results,  causes  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
busy  teacher  to  ooze  rapidly  away.     Some  of  this  work  cannot 
be  safely  entrusted  to  a  novice,  but  much  of  it,  on  the  other 
hand,  can  readily  be  hired,  and  wherever  possible  such  assistance 
should  be  provided.     A  teacher  whose  time  and  interest  are  thus 
economized  will  respond  with  great  readiness  where  his  personal 
oversight  is  indispensable. 

(3)  A  professional  library,  work  shop,  and  record  room  should 
soon  form  an  important  feature  of  every  school's  working  equip- 
ment.    This  should  grow  as  the  studies  made  demand  it,  and 
should  exist  only  in  so  far  as  it  is  used.     However,  any  school 
long  pursuing  the  policy  here  outlined  would  soon  find  that  a 
collection  of  general  professional  books  and  periodicals  possessed 
an  increasing  importance  for  its  staff.     At  Newton  such  a  general 
center  for  the  entire  system  should  be  established  at  once  at  the 
Technical  High  School.     It  would  naturally  be  the  headquarters 
of  the  director  of  this  work.     It  would  contain  all  the  material 
bearing  upon  the  studies  undertaken  hitherto,  and  should  pro- 
vide the  periodicals  and  reference  literature  which  may  be  of 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  17 

use  in  work  now  under  way.  It  should,  of  course,  be  freely 
accessible  to  every  teacher  in  the  system. 

In  conclusion  the  writer  may  be  permitted  to  reiterate  his  per- 
sonal confidence  in  the  importance  of  the  undertaking  and  in  its 
success.  The  proposition  that  an  institution  manned  by  trained 
teachers  should  contain  its  own  corrective  and  means  of  progress 
is  little  more  than  to  demand  that  it  become  thoroughly  conscious 
at  all  times  of  what  it  is  doing;  that  is,  that  its  procedure  be 
clearly  analyzed  as  to  aim,  method,  and  result.  If  this  is  done, 
comparison,  experiment,  and  improvement  will  follow  almost  of 
necessity.  The  lack  of  such  analysis  is  at  present  everywhere 
evident.  Teachers  work  in  a*fog  both  as  to  their  aim  and  as 
to  their  accomplished  results,  and  it  takes  but  little  sophistry  for 
the  tyro  to  prove  that  his  practice  is  as  good  as  that  of  the 
expert.  The  persistent  and  systematic  application  of  a  scientific 
method  to  the  every-day  problems  of  instruction  ought  gradu- 
ally to  change  this,  and  to  compel  a  teacher  to  require  of  himself 
definite  and  accurate  thinking. 

It  is  a  question  how  far  this  training  can  be  got  in  the  pre- 
liminary preparation  for  teaching.  The  traditional  normal  school 
course  or  college  department  of  education  surely  offers  little  that 
is  calculated  to  develop  this  point  of  view.  At  Harvard  this  is 
fortunately  no  longer  the  case.  An  arrangement  of  some  years 
standing  with  Newton  has  given  students  of  education  at  Har- 
vard unusual  opportunities  for  dealing  with  problems  directly, 
and  this  arrangement  will  no  doubt  shortly  be  extended  to  in- 
clude other  neighboring  school  systems.1  There  is  every  reason 
why  the  training  in  normal  schools  should  likewise  shift  its  em- 
phasis. It  seems  clear,  however,  that  no  amount  of  previous 
preparation  can  take  the  place  of  continual  experiment  in  the 
actual  course  of  instruction.  This  is  nothing  but  the  exercise  of 
professional  attitude  which  every  professional  practitioner  should 
continually  maintain  towards  his  work.  It  should  be  possible 
in  a  progressive  system  for  an  ambitious  teacher  to  abandon  for 

1  This  extension  is  already  in  part  accomplished.  —  EDITOR. 


1 8  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

a  year,  say,  half  of  his  usual  program  and  devote  his  extra  time 
to  special  investigation  in  the  local  schools  under  the  direction  of 
the  superintendent.  Many  teachers  who  are  real  students  of 
education  would  gladly  forego  a  part  of  their  salary  in  exchange 
for  time  for  this  purpose,  and  the  reaction  on  the  system  itself 
would  be  most  beneficial.  A  body  of  teachers  trained  in  this 
way  would  soon  find  themselves  in  a  position  to  effect  satisfac- 
torily a  complete  critical  survey  of  the  educational  conditions  in 
their  city.  This  is  where  such  a  task  belongs.  Expert  judges 
from  abroad  have  their  places,  but  the  continuous  critical  study 
of  the  service  rendered  by  the  schools  to  the  community  is  the 
obvious  duty  of  professionally  trained  teachers  in  their  organized 
capacity.  And  it  is  probably  true  that  the  growth  of  a  pro- 
fessional spirit  among  teachers  will  be  measured  justly  by  the 
extent  to  which  their  organized  activities  abandon  exclusive  de- 
votion to  economic  warfare  and  self-protection  in  favor  of  devo- 
tion to  the  professional  aspects  of  their  work. 

The  conditions  of  success  in  developing  a  school  system  as  an 
educational  laboratory  are  primarily  an  intelligent  and  sym- 
pathetic superintendent  and  supervisory  staff;  beyond  these,  a 
school  board  that  can  be  persuaded  to  allow  teachers  time  and 
the  needful  material  assistance.  As  has  been  said,  the  teachers 
must  be  led  and  not  driven;  such  work  is  a  matter  of  insight, 
not  of  conformity.  When  the  way  is  made  reasonably  plain 
and  possible,  most  teachers  prefer  growing  to  vegetating.  At 
Newton  this  was  conspicuously  true,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  close 
this  brief  review  of  our  mutual  enterprise  with  a  hearty  tribute 
of  appreciation  to  the  intelligence,  devotion,  and  courtesy  of  the 
Newton  teachers. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  19 

PROGRAM   OF  WORK  AT  THE  NEWTON 
"  EDUCATIONAL  LABORATORY  " 

The  achieved  results  of  the  six  months'  work  at  Newton  would 
seem  inexcusably  small  if  measured  by  formally  completed 
studies.  Many  things  were  undertaken,  and  but  one  or  two 
minor  projects  were  carried  through.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  the  chief  object  was  not  immediate  experimental 
results,  but  the  development  of  an  organization  capable  of  pro- 
ducing important  results  continuously.  Obviously  the  maxi- 
mum of  success  would  be  but  a  preparation  for  later  work  and 
would  go  for  nothing  unless  properly  followed  up.  This  will 
account,  therefore,  for  the  comprehensive  program  which  was 
laid  out,  much  of  which  was  untouched.  For  the  same  reason 
the  writer  feels  justified  in  discussing  the  program  at  greater 
length  than  might  otherwise  seem  appropriate.  It  was  all  con- 
ceived with  reference  to  this  particular  undertaking,  and  may 
still  prove  suggestive  for  this  or  other  similar  enterprises.  It  is 
a  great  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  work  at  Newton  is  going 
forward  under  most  competent  direction  and  in  full  harmony 
with  the  original  design. 

The  following  list  includes  all  the  topics  undertaken  during 
the  year  or  seriously  considered  for  later  investigation. 

1.  Differentiation  in  the  treatment  of  pupils  on  the  basis  of  the  capa- 

city they  show  for  independent  work.  History;  geography; 
arithmetic. 

2.  The  most   advantageous   disposition  of  a  study  period.       (Sub- 

periods  at  intervals,  especially  with  intervening  night,  vs.  un- 
broken periods.) 

3.  The  most  advantageous  disposition  of  reviews  in  a  given  material. 

4.  Comparative  tests  of  various  methods  for  speed  in  teaching  special 

topics;    e.  g.,  Long  Division;  English  Grammar  in  High  School. 

5.  How  can  a  school  assist  in  encouraging  and  refining  the  avocations 

of  its  pupils  ? 

6.  The  development  of  a  typical,  uniform  character-analysis  based  on 

the  relations  incident  to  school  life.  Hence  also:  the  analysis 
of  all  phases  of  school  life  with  a  view  to  the  opportunities  they 
may  afford  for  the  display  of  definite  characteristics  in  the 
pupil. 


20  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

7.  The  development  of  a  method  for  the  scientific  study  of  individual 

problem-cases,  whether  of  instructional,  disciplinary,  or  other 
nature. 

8.  The  closer  articulation  of  High  School  and  Grammar  School. 

(a)  In  General  Organization. 

(b)  In  English. 

(c)  In  Science. 

(d)  In  History. 

9.  The  analysis  into  fundamental  abilities  of  aggregates  now  usually 

rated  as  units;  e.  g.,  English,  mathematics,  etc. 

Also:  The  invention  of  tests  and  scales  for  the  objective 
measurement  of  these  abilities.  Hillegas  Scale.  Eighth  Grade 
Scale. 

10.  The  division  of  labor  in  teaching:  the  organization  of  class- work  to 

permit  the  larger  use  of  conspicuous  abilities  in  the  teacher. 

11.  Effect  of  regulation  of  periods  on  quantity  and  quality  of  work. 

12.  A  psychological  analysis  of  successful  teachers. 

i .  Differentiation  in  the  treatment  of  pupils  on  the  basis  of  the 
capacity  they  show  for  independent  work.  History;  geography; 
arithmetic. 

The  significance  of  the  topic  lies  in  the  very  general  tendency 
to  mass  a  group  of  thirty  or  forty  children  and  create  arbitrary 
standards  suited  possibly  to  the  average  pupils,  but  usually  to 
no  actual  pupil.  The  result  is  a  procedure  which  bores  and  dis- 
courages the  bright  minds  at  the  same  time  that  it  fails  to  pro- 
vide adequately  for  the  dull. 

It  was  proposed  to  discover  whether  all  idea  of  uniform  re- 
quirement could  be  abandoned;  whether  on  the  basis  of  certain 
definite  evidence  pupils  could  be  selected  who  could  be  trusted 
to  do  independent  work  in  a  given  subject,  reporting  as  required 
either  on  regular  topics  or  special  personal  assignments  and 
excused  from  much  of  the  class  drill;  whether  such  treatment 
was  a  stimulus  and  benefit  to  the  pupils  so  chosen,  and  whether 
it  would  make  possible  a  more  successful  treatment  of  the  re- 
mainder. In  case  the  treatment  was  found  successful,  it  was 
proposed  to  note  those  features  which  appeared  most  promising 
as  well  as  the  difficulties  most  likely  to  interfere  with  success. 

This  topic  was  discussed  at  several  conferences  at  the  Bigelow 
School,  and  two  teachers  undertook  to  try  out  the  plan.  Condi- 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  21 

tions  were  particularly  favorable  as  the  underlying  idea  of  in- 
dividual treatment  has  long  received  unusual  emphasis  in  Newton 
practice.  One  teacher  began  Roman  History  with  a  group  of 
six  pupils  in  grade  VI,  using  an  interesting  biographical  reader. 
Their  preparation  was  made  in  their  own  time,  and  the  lesson 
was  recited  to  the  teacher  during  a  study  period;  once  a  week 
the  members  of  the  group  rehearsed  their  knowledge  for  the 
benefit  of  the  class.  The  result  was  a  marked  development  in 
the  interest  and  initiative  with  which  they  undertook  to  handle 
easy  historical  topics  independently.  The  other  teacher  organ- 
ized a  special  volunteer  group  of  seven  for  advanced  work  in 
arithmetic  in  grade  V.  Tteir  work  has  been  characterized  by 
persistent  energy  and  enthusiasm.  Their  gain  both  in  power 
and  in  knowledge  has  been  exceptional  for  that  grade,  and  their 
reflex  influence  on  the  remainder  of  the  class  has  been  stimulating. 
Both  of  these  experiments  were  in  progress  in  March  when  the 
writer  left  Newton.  An  accurate  report  of  the  complete  results 
will  doubtless  be  made  later. 

2.  The  most  advantageous  disposition  of  a  study  period.  Sub- 
periods  at  intervals,  especially  with  intervening  night,  vs.  unbroken 
periods. 

This  study  was  intended  to  demonstrate  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  a  well-known  psychological  principle  —  that  of  the  sub- 
conscious ripening  of  impressions,  if  repeated  at  intervals,  into  a 
clearer  whole  than  when  gained  with  a  single  prolonged  effort  of 
attention. 

It  was  proposed  to  divide  a  class  in  history  into  two  groups  of 
pupils,  one  of  which  should  agree  to  an  unbroken  study  period 
of  one  hour  on  the  day  preceding  the  recitation;  the  other  should 
agree  to  divide  an  hour  equally  between  the  day  of  the  recitation 
and  the  day  before,  but  to  cover  the  entire  lesson  on  each  occa- 
sion. The  groups  were  to  be  made  up  as  nearly  equal  in  ability 
as  possible  on  the  basis  of  past  ratings.  Note  was  then  to  be 
taken,  both  in  written  and  oral  work,  of  the  comparative  effect 
of  the  two  methods  of  study.  After  a  two  months'  trial  the 
groups  were  to  be  reversed  and  the  results  noted. 


22  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

The  experiment  was  not  tried  at  Newton.  It  is  a  promising 
problem  both  for  its  absolute  interest  and  especially  as  an  object 
lesson  to  young  students  who  receive  all  too  little  specific  practi- 
cal instruction  as  to  the  nature  of  their  mental  processes. 

3.  The  most  advantageous  disposition  of  reviews  in  a  given  ma- 
terial. 

This  topic  likewise  received  no  treatment  at  Newton.  It  is, 
however,  an  exceedingly  important  problem.  Moreover  it  is 
one  of  those  numerous  studies  which  involves  almost  no  extra 
labor  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  but  only  careful  arrangement 
and  systematic  control.  It  would  be  a  simple  matter  to  alter- 
nate the  disposition  of  reviews  in  a  class  that  is  dealing  with  a 
fairly  homogeneous  material  by  giving  now  monthly,  now  weekly, 
and  now  brief  daily  quizzes  on  the  foregoing  matter.  By  keep- 
ing conditions  clearly  distinct,  and  by  repeating  the  process  with 
the  same  group,  the  most  favorable  plan  would  appear,  at  least 
for  that  teacher.  At  present  nearly  every  experienced  teacher 
follows  a  practice  asserted  to  be  the  "  result  of  experience."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  is  almost  invariably  the  product  of 
subjective  opinion  instead  of  objective  experiment ;  and  personal 
preference,  or  convenience,  or  exaggeration  plays  a  large  part 
in  it. 

4.  Comparative  tests  of  various  methods  in  teaching  special 
topics;   e.  g.,  Long  Division;  English  Grammar  in  High  Schools, 
etc. 

This  study  embraces  an  almost  endless  series  of  problems  in 
the  technique  of  instruction.  Its  significance  rests  in  the  fact 
that  in  most  schoolrooms  to-day  the  actual  conditions  under 
which  any  given  procedure  takes  place  are  slightly  analyzed, 
and  the  results  secured  are  measured  only  in  the  grossest  fashion. 
An  actual  questionary  from  several  experienced  teachers  in  one 
school  as  to  how  long  it  took  to  teach  long  division  resulted  in 
answers  varying  from  one  week  to  six  months! 

The  purpose  in  each  case  is  to  discover  at  the  outset  exactly 
what  conditions  exist,  then  after  following  a  fixed  and  carefully 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  23 

planned  procedure  for  a  limited  time,  to  determine  with  as  great 
exactness  as  possible  the  result. 

Preparations  were  made  for  tests  on  two  topics;  long  division 
in  the  elementary  school  and  English  grammar  in  the  high  school. 
In  the  first  problem  it  was  proposed  to  test  each  class  in  a  New- 
ton elementary  school  with  preliminary  tests  for  the  earlier  pro- 
cesses as  soon  as  the  class  was  declared  to  be  ready  to  begin  long 
division.  For  this  purpose  the  Courtis  standard  tests  in  addi- 
tion, subtraction,  multiplication,  and  short  division  were  to  be 
used  as  prescribed  for  those  tests  but  not  ignoring  the  errors. 
As  soon  as  the  status  of  the  class  had  been  determined  in  this 
fashion,  the  teacher  was  to  commence  her  instruction  following 
any  plan  that  she  wished,  with  the  sole  precaution  that  she  have 
it  thoroughly  analyzed  in  advance  and  in  writing;  she  was  also 
to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  the  amount  of  time  given  to  the 
subject,  the  outside  work  required  of  the  pupils  or  done  by 
them,  and  the  absences  occurring  in  the  class  during  the  trial 
period.  As  a  measure  of  the  progress  of  the  class  it  was  planned 
to  use  tests  devised  for  the  purpose  and  so  constructed  as  to  pre- 
sent the  steps  in  the  development  of  the  subject  progressively; 
a  class  half  way  through  the  subject  should  be  able  to  go  at  least 
half  way  through  the  test.  It  was  thought  that  several  equiva- 
lent tests  using  different  figures,  but  constructed  in  the  same 
way  would,  if  used  in  similar  sequence,  furnish  a  measure  of 
progress  which  could  be  accurately  expressed. 

The  first  task  was  to  construct  and  try  out  this  test  in  a  large 
number  of  classes.  This  was  still  in  progress  when  the  writer 
left  Newton.  The  draft  below  shows  the  test  at  its  latest  stage. 
It  still  needs  thorough  proof  and  revision  before  it  can  be  said 
to  be  reliable. 

W  (2)  (3) 

23)46(2  31)57(1  22)264(12 

46  31  22 

26  44 

44 


24  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

(4)  (5)  (6) 

21)2772(132      31)65509(2113      312)65832(211 

21  62  624 

67  35  ~343 

63  3i  312 

42  40  312 

4_2  31  312 

99 

93 

6 

(7)  (8)  (9} 

304)127680(420      33)6726(203       2213)713558(322 
1216  66  6639 

608  126  4965 

608  99  4426 

o  27  5398 

4426 

972 

(10)  (n) 

798  )  780444  (  978  9706  )  5824787  (  600 

7182  58236 

6224  1187 

5586 

6384 
6384 

The  series  of  problems  presents  in  order  a  simple  division 
without  remainder,  another  with  remainder,  a  two,  three,  and 
four-figure  quotient  in  order,  a  three-figure  divisor,  a  quotient 
with  final  zero,  and  a  four-figure  dividend,  a  quotient  with  medial 
zero,  a  four-figure  divisor,  a  problem  in  large  digits,  and  a  quo- 
tient with  double  zero.  Problem  (9)  stood  formerly  before  (7) 
and  (8),  but  proved  to  be  harder  than  either  of  those.  To  avoid 
confusing  the  operation  by  hard  multiplications  and  carrying, 
both  divisors  and  quotients  in  the  first  nine  problems  were  made 
of  digits  i  to  3,  except  in  problem  (7)  where  4  was  needed  to 
secure  a  four-figure  divisor.  Tests  nearly  equivalent  can  be 
constructed  by  rearranging  the  figures.  Each  should,  however, 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  25 

be  carefully  tried  out  in  comparison  with  the  first  before  being 
adopted. 

It  was  expressly  intended  not  to  apply  the  completed  test  as 
a  speed  test,  although  a  record  was  to  be  made  of  the  time  taken. 
The  pupils  were  instructed  to  work  deliberately  and  accurately. 
This  principle  seems  fundamental  in  the  first  tests  of  all  newly- 
learned  processes. 

The  long  division  study  should  have  immediate  and  important 
results.  It  should  lead  at  once  to  the  requisition  of  a  standard 
test-achievement  in  prior  processes  before  a  class  is  allowed  to 
take  up  a  given  topic.  It  affords  a  fine  opportunity  for  charac- 
terizing certain  methods  as  well  as  for  disclosing  the  inefficiency 
of  certain  teachers  —  a  kind  of  inefficiency  heretofore  very  diffi- 
cult of  proof.  At  Newton  the  systematic  conduct  of  the  study 
is  hampered  considerably  by  the  fact  that  individual  instruction 
has  well-nigh  obliterated  class  lines;  it  is  rarely  that  a  class  as 
a  class  is  ready  to  begin  a  new  topic.  Still  there  are  usually 
considerable  groups  that  move  together.  With  careful  coopera- 
tion of  the  principals  the  tests  might  be  extended  to  individuals 
-  the  ideal  arrangement.  In  this  case  they  would  afford  a 
reliable  basis  for  comparing  the  progress  of  pupils  when  taught 
as  individuals  under  present  conditions,  and  when  taught  in 
groups. 

The  other  topic  of  this  nature  for  which  plans  were  laid  had 
to  do  with  the  teaching  of  English  grammar  and  rhetoric  in  high 
school;  especially  in  so  far  as  this  was  involved  in  the  correction 
of  written  exercises.  The  significance  of  the  topic  lies  in  the 
prevalent  heavy  drain  on  the  teachers  of  English  for  corrections 
in  written  work  which,  to  a  considerable  degree,  are  felt  to  fail 
of  their  purpose.  This  failure  may  be  due,  among  other  causes, 
to  (i)  wasteful  correction,  unattended  to  by  the  pupil,  and  there- 
fore producing  no  reaction;  (2)  too  much  correction  —  the 
"  proof-reading  "  type  that  shows  up  all  errors  and  leaves  merely 
an  impression  of  general  and  usually  large  deficiency;  (3)  un- 
systematic correction  that,  although  not  correcting  too  much, 
fails  to  concentrate  on  the  easily  discovered  habitual  errors  of 


26  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

the  pupil;  (4)  a  lack  of  clear,  specific  explanation  and  illustration 
in  preparing  for  correction;  (5)  a  failure  to  institute  definite 
habit-exercises  focused  on  a  short,  well-selected  program  of 
faults. 

In  view  of  this  the  following  experiment  was  proposed.     Two 
divisions  of  first-year  English,  classified  as  nearly  as  possible  to 
an  equal  grade  of  ability,  were  to  be  tested  once  or  twice  with  the 
same  set  of  exercises.     The  papers  returned  were  to  be  analyzed 
minutely  for  the  kind  and  number  of  grammatical  errors  con- 
tained in  them,  and  from  this  array  a  program  was  to  be  drawn 
up  of  certain  specific  faults  to  be  eliminated  or  specific  excel- 
lencies  to  be   developed,   during   the   trial  period  —  say,  four 
months.      Thereupon  Division  I  was  to  proceed  by  the  usual 
method  with  periodical  themes  fully  corrected  by  the  teacher 
and  revised  or  rewritten  by  the  pupil.      Division  II  was  to 
proceed  as  follows:    The  teacher  was  to  make  no  corrections 
whatever  except  in  class  in  the  presence  of  the  pupil,   thus 
securing  a  heightened  interest  and  attention  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions.      The  "  proof-reading  "  idea  was  to  be 
wholly  abandoned  and  the  work  was  to  be  concentrated  on 
the  program  referred  to  above.     All  points  in  the  "  program  " 
were    to   have    thorough    and    repeated    treatment   and   illus- 
tration before  the  pupil  was  held  responsible,  and  he  was  to 
be  troubled  with  no  others.      For  practice  and  correction  all 
pupils  were  to  bring  in  daily  or  write  in  class,  a  very  brief  para- 
graph in  illustration  of  the  points  previously  discussed.      The 
correction  was  to  take  various  forms:  the  rapid  reading  and  dis- 
cussion by  the  teacher  of  a  few  random  papers;    the  same  of 
papers  by  the  worst  or  best  minds  in  the  class ;   the  careful  pair- 
ing of  individuals  and  the  exchange  of  papers  either  in  class  or 
over  night,  followed  by  discussion  of  the  program-errors  dis- 
covered or  of  appeals  from  the  writers;   the  rapid  projection  of 
several  papers  on  the  screen  with  reflectoscope  and  criticism  of 
program-faults;    the  occasional  turning  over  of  all  the  papers 
to  the  best  fifth  or  fourth  in  the  class  and  the  discussion  on  the 
following  day  of  a  selected  set  chosen  by  them.      A  further 


HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN  27 

device  of  doubtful  though  possible  service  would  require  each 
pupil  to  manufacture  corruptions  to  contrast  with  his  own 
correct  usage. 

The  idea  of  the  whole  procedure  is  to  assume  nothing,  to  pre- 
pare for  everything,  to  get  rid  of  all  unnecessary  words,  to  isolate 
clearly  each  desired  point  until  at  least  75  per  cent  of  the  class 
know  it,  to  make  corrections  short,  sharp,  and  incisive  at  the 
moment  of  the  greatest  interest,  to  utilize  the  pride  and  emula- 
tion of  the  pupils  themselves  in  criticism  which  is  clearly  under- 
stood and  within  their  power,  to  get  the  correct  usage  started  as 
a  habit,  and  by  means  of  all  thisjto  reduce  technique  to  it  lowest 
terms  and  allow  a  pupil  in  his  longer  efforts  to  concentrate  almost 
wholly  on  the  content. 

At  the  end  of  the  trial  period  it  was  proposed  again  to  test  the 
two  groups  once  or  twice  with  the  same  exercises  and  to  compare 
them  in  respect  to,  (i)  their  performance  on  the  "  program  " 
and,  (2)  all  other  items.  On  the  basis  of  these  results  in  turn  a 
new  program  was  to  be  made  and,  reversing  the  divisions, 
another  four  months'  trial  undertaken. 

This  study  was  not  formally  taken  up  at  Newton.  It  was 
found  desirable  to  test  out  the  various  devices  suggested  before 
attacking  the  general  problem  and  this  preliminary  work  was  in 
progress  in  March  when  the  writer  left. 

5.  How  can  a  school  assist  in  encouraging  and  refining  the  avoca- 
tions of  its  pupils  ? 

The  teachers  in  a  Chicago  high  school  were  recently  surprised 
at  finding  an  unassuming  junior  the  winner  at  an  amateur  con- 
test in  aeroplane  construction,  and  a  sudden  newspaper  hero. 
The  school  had  been  wholly  unaware  of  the  lad's  real  life,  and 
with  proper,  but  unconscious  irony  the  newspaper  accounts  of 
his  life  failed  to  mention  that  he  had  attended  a  certain  high 
school  for  three  years.  The  situation  is  wholly  characteristic. 
An  attempt  should  be  made  systematically  to  discover  and 
utilize  a  pupil's  avocations,  to  recognize  and  dignify  them  when 
of  educational  value,  to  find  ways  of  promoting  them  in  the 


28  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

school  that  the  pupil  may  feel  that  his  pet  plans  will  there  receive 
their  due.  Clever  teachers  everywhere  have,  of  course,  done 
this  at  times  already;  it  needs,  however,  to  be  made  a  systematic 
school  function.  No  plan  was  worked  out  for  treating  the  topic 
experimentally.  Effects  might  show  in  improved  marks,  re- 
duced absences,  better  discipline,  and  various  other  ways.  The 
topic  was  not  undertaken  at  Newton. 

6.  The  development  of  a  typical,  uniform  character  analysis 
based  upon  the  relations  incident  to  school  life.  Hence  also:  The 
analysis  of  all  phases  of  school  life  with  a  view  to  the  opportunities 
they  may  afford  for  the  observation  and  development  or  suppression 
of  definite  characteristics  in  the  pupil. 

The  most  striking  and  hopeful  feature  of  recent  educational 
progress  has  been  the  tendency  to  hold  both  school  and  teacher 
responsible  for  the  problems  of  the  individual  pupil.  A  quick 
and  accurate  recognition  of  individual  traits,  resourcefulness  in 
planning  their  successful  treatment,  and  skill  and  consistency  in 
conducting  this  treatment  —  these  constitute  one  phase,  prob- 
ably the  most  important  phase,  of  the  new  demands  made  upon 
the  school  to-day.  To  meet  them  successfully  implies  a  vastly 
different  technique  and  equipment  from  that  characterizing  the 
system  which  treated  all  pupils  more  or  less  alike.  The  attempt 
to  inculcate  in  the  pupil  an  arbitrary  kind  and  amount  of  knowl- 
edge has  given  place  to  a  recognition  of  the  many  factors  that 
combine  to  influence  a  pupil's  growth,  and  the  school  is  called 
upon  to  discern  and  dominate  these  factors. 

To  do  this  intelligently  and  on  a  large  scale  the  information 
necessary  to  the  proper  handling  of  a  given  pupil  must  be  avail- 
able in  greater  fullness  and  precision  than  heretofore.  We  must 
have  accessible  in  systematic  form  all  the  important  facts  that 
might  properly  modify  the  school's  action  toward  a  given  child. 
These  should  constitute  the  private,  professional  information  by 
which  the  school  and  teachers  are  guided,  and,  if  well  worked 
out,  would  furnish  the  first  reliable  basis  of  record  for  many 
phases  of  educational  investigation.  To  be  of  the  greatest  ser- 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  29 

vice  such  information  should  be  comprehensive.  It  should  give 
the  essential  facts  of  the  pnpiPs  entire  life,  certainly  of  his  entire 
school  life;  it  should  preserve  the  mature  judgments  of  all  re- 
sponsible persons  who  have  had  to  do  with  his  education;  it 
should  record  in  clearly  understood  terms  his  growing  abilities, 
difficulties  and  tendencies,  as  well  as  his  conspicuous  achieve- 
ments or  deficiencies  in  all  important  directions;  it  should,  finally, 
give  due  weight  to  the  pupil's  environment  and  to  those  influences 
of  home  and  society,  whether  good  or  ill,  which  the  school  has 
hitherto  almost  wholly  ignored.  To  accomplish  this  such  a 
record  requires  an  unusual  organization  in  order  to  secure  a 
maximum  of  results  with  a  minimum  of  bookkeeping. 

The  completed  study  of  the  topic  might,  therefore,  result  in  a 
stout  booklet  intended  to  accompany  the  child  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  elementary  school  through  his  high-school  course, 
and  to  be  in  the  possession  of  the  school  wherever  the  child 
might  be.  It  would  usually  be  accessible  only  to  the  teachers 
and  officers  of  the  schools,  and  its  contents  would  be  treated  as 
confidential.  The  content  of  the  record  would  be  planned  some- 
what on  the  following  lines : 

OUTLINE  OF  CHARACTER-ANALYSIS 

1.  Temperament. 

2.  Mental  Traits.     Motives.     Attitude. 

3.  Moral  Traits  (a)  personal,  (b)  social. 

4.  Physical  Traits.     Physical  history. 

5.  Home  life  and  environment : 

A.  Birth,  race,  education,  occupation,  financial  condition,  social 
status,  and  religion  of  the  father  and  mother;   character  of 
the  family  life  and  surroundings;  brothers  and  sisters. 

B.  Nutrition,  sleep,  home-work,  outside  work,  amusements, 
friends,  and  companions  of  the  child. 

6.  Mental  achievement: 

A.  Formal  education,  with  relative  excellence. 

B.  Extra-school  performances:    reading,  literary  productions, 
collections,  mental  games;    linguistic,  musical,  and  artistic 
acquisitions. 


30  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

7.  Social  achievement: 

Membership  or  leadership  in  churches,  societies,  clubs, 
teams,  and  class  organizations;  popularity  with  friends  and 
school-mates. 

8.  Physical  achievement : 

Sports,  games,  and  contests  engaged  in;  strength  and  devel- 
opment records. 

9.  Congenial  occupations: 

Preferred  pursuits  in  leisure. 

10.   Clearly-marked  abilities  and  tendencies. 

The  foundations  of  an  adequate  prognosis. 

The  information  called  for  in  the  above  outline  is  of  two  kinds: 
a  small  portion  of  it  relates  to  facts  that  are  more  or  less  stable 
and  require  but  occasional  revision;  for  the  balance  there  should 
be  provision  for  annual  entries  even  though  these  are  not  always 
made. 

The  proposed  nature  of  the  entries  constitutes  an  important 
feature  of  the  device  and  is  what  has  made  the  systematic  study 
of  the  topic  a  fruitful  one  in  this  series.  To  leave  definition  and 
descriptive  judgments  of  this  kind  to  the  individual  teacher  is 
to  court  the  same  confusion,  variety,  and  vagueness  that  have 
characterized  all  such  attempts  in  the  past;  it  furthermore  en- 
sures neglect  because  of  the  difficulty  of  originating  adequate 
terms.  The  nomenclature  must  be  completely  worked  out  in 
advance  and  incorporated  in  the  proposed  record.  It  then  be- 
comes comparatively  simple  to  provide  spaces  where,  in  succes- 
sive years,  the  appropriate  terms  can  be  checked  off  by  the 
observer. 

The  invention  of  an  adequate  terminology  becomes,  therefore, 
the  chief  task.  Dealing  as  it  does  with  a  child's  life  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  and  used  by  observers  familiar  with  those  condi- 
tions, it  seems  obviously  appropriate  that  this  series  of  terms 
should  be  based  chiefly  upon  the  specific  concrete  reactions  of 
the  child  under  these  conditions.  Every  term  used  should,  of 
course,  be  as  suggestive  as  possible,  but  to  be  thoroughly  reliable 
it  should  be  based  upon  an  abundance  of  illustrations  which 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  31 

leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  meaning.  In  order  to  provide  for  the 
various  important  phases  of  a  child's  behavior  it  may  often  be 
necessary  to  invent  purely  technical  expressions.  Thus  a  child 
may  be  said  to  exhibit  "  formal  attention  "  when  he  presents  all 
the  outward  marks  of  attention,  but  reveals  to  the  questioner  no 
knowledge  of  that  to  which  he  was  supposed  to  attend. 

The  careful  analysis  of  pupil  behavior  in  a  well-chosen  and 
significant  terminology  may  lead  to  a  further  interesting  en- 
quiry, Where  are  these  traits  best  revealed  ?  What  department 
or  phase  of  work  shall  be  held  responsible  for  revealing  them  ? 
How  can  work  be  modified  or  &ew  work  undertaken  with  a  view 
to  developing  such  and  such  traits  ?  To  some  teachers,  espe- 
cially to  high-school  teachers  trained  to  the  purely  intellectual 
point  of  view,  a  serious,  systematic  answer  to  these  questions  is 
likely  to  prove  illuminating. 

One  form  of  studying  this  topic  consisted  in  giving  all  instruc- 
tors in  a  high-school  department  a  provisional  trait-list  by  which 
they  were  to  mark  separately  several  pupils  known  to  the  entire 
group.  Conferences  over  such  character-cards  led  not  only  to  a 
fresh  illustration  and  closer  definition  of  terms,  but  frequently 
also  to  surprising  disclosures  from  teachers  as  to  how  certain 
items  of  behavior  were  interpreted,  and  as  to  what  they  thought 
their  own  procedure  should  or  should  not  reveal.  Careful  analy- 
sis of  this  sort  is  rare,  yet  nothing  could  come  nearer  the  heart 
of  the  whole  teaching  process. 

When  completed  the  terminology  would  appear  in  the  char- 
acter-book in  classified  form  with  positive  and  negative  traits 
together.  A  brief  definition  should  be  given  with  each  term, 
but  a  manual  of  terms  with  full  definitions  and  illustrations  from 
observed  behavior  should  also  be  available  for  reference.  The 
following  specimens  will  serve  to  show  the  nature  of  the  system 
and  its  use. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


Years  or  Grades  Qualities 

8     o     101112     Attentive:    receptive  to  instruction;    ideas 
are  clearly  taken  in. 

Concentrative :  capable  of  prolonged  volun- 
tary and  critical  mental  application; 
strains  attention  to  rework  and  improve 
what  is  received. 

Quick:  naturally  swift  in  reaching  correct 
conclusions;  "  sees  the  point  "  intui- 
tively. 

Fluid  attention:  attends  readily,  but  is  un- 
able to  fix  attention  continuously;  is 
baffled  by  any  difficulty;  mental  "  quit- 
ter." 

Suggestible:  borrows  ideas  and  opinions 
from  others;  offers  no  criticism  or  op- 
posing ideas. 

Cooperative:  works  well  with  others  for  a 
common  end;  has  "  team-sense." 

Sociable:  disposed  to  be  friendly  and  agree- 
able in  company;  frank,  companion- 
able, and  acceptable  to  others;  is  a 
good  "  mixer." 

Corrigible:  reacts  well  to  correction;  is  rea- 
sonable in  attitude  and  profits  by  the 
experience. 


It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  labor  involved  in  keeping  up 
such  character-books  is  negligible.  Possessing  a  clear  and  com- 
prehensive terminology  any  thoughtful  teacher  should  find  the 
making  of  these  character-records  of  her  pupils  an  interesting 
and  simple  task.  Only  such  traits  as  are  unmistakable  are  re- 
corded and  on  the  basis  of  a  year's  acquaintance  these  ought  to 
be  verified  repeatedly.  Facts  dealing  with  the  pupil's  out-of- 
school  life  will,  of  course,  have  to  be  sought.  Every  observant 
teacher  knows  many  of  these  already,  but  the  knowledge  dies 
when  her  connection  with  the  pupil  ceases.  The  purpose  of  the 
character-book  is  to  accumulate  and  hold  such  knowledge  for 
future  use.  What  could  be  more  enlightening,  for  example,  than 
a  fairly  careful  record  under  section  nine  of  the  above  outline, 
noting  the  spontaneous  activities  of  a  child  during  vacations,  or 
on  Saturdays,  or  after  school  in  the  afternoon,  through  a  period 


HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN  33 

of  ten  years  ?  If  done  in  a  significant  way,  as  we  can  soon  learn 
to  do  it,  such  a  record  would  be  invaluable  to  a  vocational  ad- 
viser. In  the  high  school  where  one  teacher  deals  as  it  were  with 
fragments  only  of  one  or  two  hundred  pupils  changing  each  sem- 
ester, the  case  is  difficult.  Here  the  character-book  would  be 
the  mental  treasury  of  the  grade  adviser.  Ideally  his  group 
should  not  be  larger  than  fifteen  or  twenty  pupils.  These  could 
be  studied,  visited,  and  mapped  without  difficulty.  Till  this  ideal 
is  reached  such  information  as  can  be  had  should  be  kept.  Es- 
pecially should  this  be  done  in  all  problem-cases,  say  the  poorest 
fifth  of  the  enrollment.  Or  the^  system  might  first  of  all  be 
devoted  to  the  best  fifth  of  the  school. 

The  value  of  such  a  record  as  an  educational  document  scarcely 
needs  to  be  pointed  out.  Detailed  records  of  a  few  hundred  pu- 
pils in  the  light  of  their  college  work,  and  later  careers  would 
certainly  prove  of  great  assistance  in  settling  some  important 
questions.  It  is,  however,  the  immediate  usefulness  of  the  char- 
acter-book that  is  most  appealing.  Manifold  problems  that 
block  the  way  of  teachers  and  principals  in  the  handling  of  chil- 
dren as  they  make  their  way  through  the  grades,  would  disappear 
at  once  in  the  light  of  the  recorded  observations  and  experience  of 
earlier  teachers.  Furthermore,  the  continued  necessity  for  re- 
cording experience  would  define  methods  and  emphasize  aims 
hitherto  but  vaguely  conceived.  To  that  peculiar  type  of  indi- 
vidual who  holds  that  teachers  in  general  are  not  to  be  trusted 
with  such  information  because  it  prejudices  their  treatment  of  the 
child,  the  writer  has  nothing  to  say.  Untrustworthy  teachers 
doubtless  exist  as  do  untrustworthy  representatives  of  all  pro- 
fessions. This  attitude,  however,  would  strip  a  teacher  of  all 
his  professional  material,  deny  the  sincerity  of  his  purpose,  and 
make  any  but  chance  success  on  his  part  impossible. 

At  Newton  the  character  analysis  was  undertaken  by  seven 
groups  of  elementary  teachers  and  one  group  at  the  Technical 
High  School.  The  teachers  at  the  Peirce  School  under  Mr.  Reed 
went  at  the  subject  most  seriously,  proceeding  slowly  and  seek- 
ing to  verify  each  step.  Elsewhere  the  director  conferred  with 


34  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

the  groups  and  took  a  less  exhaustive  method  in  the  hope  that 
at  least  a  provisional  terminology  might  be  devised  and  put  into 
use  before  the  end  of  the  year.  Of  course  any  set  of  terms  what- 
ever can  only  be  provisional,  as  their  refinement  and  improvement 
is  an  almost  infinite  task.  The  writer's  change  of  plans,  however, 
prevented  the  formulation  of  the  tentative  results  at  once.  It 
is  hoped  that  they  may  soon  be  issued  in  a  trial  form  that  will 
invite  further  criticism  and  elaboration. 

7.  The  development  of  a  method  for  the  scientific  study  of  individ- 
ual problem-cases,  whether  of  instructional,  disciplinary  or  other 
nature. 

The  aim  of  this  study  is  to  work  out  for  education  a  "  case- 
system  "  of  study  and  instruction  comparable  to  that  which  has 
given  the  study  of  the  law  and  of  medicine  its  modern  effective- 
ness. Subjective  and  sentimental  pedagogy  abounds,  but  its 
usefulness  is  past.  We  need  the  facts  to  direct  us  further;  the 
facts  presented  systematically  and  truthfully,  and  stripped  of  all 
unnecessary  verbiage.  It  should  be  possible  for  a  young  princi- 
pal at  his  wit's  end  in  dealing  with  a  recalcitrant  pupil  to  assemble 
quickly  a  whole  literature  of  similar  cases  stating  briefly  but 
accurately  the  conditions,  the  treatment,  and  the  results,  all  in 
concrete  detail,  from  the  actual  experience  of  successful  school 
men.  A  teacher  puzzled  over  an  otherwise  normal  child  that 
can't  spell  should  know  where  to  turn  with  hopes  of  finding  the 
suggestion  that  will  aid  him.  It  should  be  possible  to  saturate 
a  student  of  education  with  material  of  this  sort,  setting  forth  in 
a  standardized  terminology  trustworthy  evidence  on  all  phases 
of  education.  It  should  be  possible  in  a  given  school  system, 
when  conducted  by  a  properly  trained  staff,  to  compile  almost 
automatically  records  of  the  treatment  of  all  cases  having  educa- 
tional significance,  and  to  turn  these  to  account  both  at  the 
source  and  elsewhere.  At  present  there  is  much  citing  of  cases 
in  pedagogical  literature,  but  chiefly  of  favorable  cases  selected 
to  prove  a  thesis,  while  an  enormous  current  of  true,  unpartisan 
experience  is  daily  drifting  by  unchronicled.  All  that  is  neces- 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  35 

sary  is  careful  analysis  and  the  organization  of  economical  forms 
in  which  to  cast  such  experience ;  practice  and  the  printing-press 
will  do  the  rest. 

A  study  of  this  kind  demands  precisely  such  a  laboratory 
treatment  as  is  here  proposed.  It  could  probably  be  worked 
out  successfully  only  under  such  conditions,  for  its  success  lies 
wholly  in  the  adequacy  and  directness  with  which  it  formulates 
and  attacks  the  practical  problems  of  the  school.  A  dozen 
principals,  each  asked  to  state  his  problem-cases  on  a  provisional 
printed  blank  and  then  to  discuss  it  in  conference,  would  speedily 
develop  the  forms  in  which  th^se  comparative  experiences  would 
prove  most  helpful,  and  in  so  doing  would  simply  organize  and 
clarify  the  procedure  from  which,  even  at  present,  they  derive 
their  major  inspiration  in  mutual  contact.  The  same  treatment 
could,  of  course,  be  applied  to  class-room  problems  by  groups  of 
teachers.  In  both  cases  the  timeliness  of  the  topics  and  the 
prospect  of  putting  the  results  of  the  discussion  to  an  immediate 
test  or  use  would  ensure  vigorous  interest. 

In  such  larger  matters  as  school  organization  or  the  social  re- 
lations of  education  it  would  be  necessary  to  extend  the  scope  of 
the  study.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  the  mature  experience  of 
successful  school  men  on  a  large  number  of  important  subjects 
be  assembled  in  comparable  and  useful  form  without  making  it 
necessary  for  each  contributor  to  write  a  book  in  order  to  record 
it.  For  this  purpose  also  there  is  need  of  carefully  devised  forms 
which  would  reduce  the  information  to  common  terms.  By 
means  of  such  forms  and  with  the  cooperation  of  a  selected  group 
of  experienced  and  successful  observers  of  education,  truths  inno- 
cent of  personal  coloring  and  little  influenced  by  conscious  selec- 
tion would  gradually  emerge. 

This  subject  was  discussed  somewhat  at  Newton  but  never 
seriously  undertaken.  The  following  specimen  is  intended  to 
suggest  a  possible  mode  of  treatment. 


36  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

PRELIMINARY  BLANK  FOR  DATA  IN  CASES  OF  DISCIPLINE 

Observer,  John  Doe        Subject,  Discipline        Class,  Lying 

1.  0 fender:    status  in  school  and  community;    background  and  en- 

vironment. 

2.  Statement  of  facts  in  the  case,  uninterpreted. 

3.  Case  for  the  defense:    point  of  view  of  the  offender  in  full;    every 

known  or  suspected  element  of  provocation  should  be  included, 
and  the  utmost  effort  made,  on  the  part  of  the  observer,  to  as- 
sume the  motives,  outlook,  training,  and  limitations  of  the  cul- 
prit, bearing  in  mind  that,  in  the  given  combination  of  these 
factors,  it  was  most  natural  for  the  boy  to  do  as  he  did. 

4.  Case  for  the  School:    who  is  the  injured  party  —  the  school,  the 

teacher,  the  pupils,  or  the  boy  himself  ?  Formulate  the  nature 
of  the  injury  to  the  party  involved.  Is  it  a  vital  injury  or  a 
mere  formal  error  ?  Can  it  be  made  good  by  punishment  ? 

5.  Immediate   purpose   of  any   treatment:     contrition,    true   view   of 

offense,  better  motives,  fear,  compensation,  deterrent  example  ? 

6.  Immediate  treatment  proposed:  how  likely  to  accomplish  the  desired 

result;  chances  of  failure;  effect  temporary  or  permanent;  will 
the  total  result  tend  to  kindle  better  feelings  ? 

7.  Ultimate  purpose:    does  the  case  require  a  course  of  systematic 

training  to  effect  a  permanent  change  ? 

8.  Training  proposed. 

9.  Results. 

8.  Closer  articulation  between  the  high  school  and  the  grammar 
school. 

This  perennially  attractive  study  proved,  as  it  developed,  to 
contain  more  promise  of  immediate  results  than  any  other  that 
was  undertaken.  Four  phases  were  considered:  first,  that  of 
general  organization;  second,  that  of  English;  third,  that  of 
Science;  and  fourth  that  of  History.  The  initiative  in  each  case 
was  taken  by  a  group  of  teachers  in  the  high  school,  but  hearty 
support  was  secured  from  the  elementary  schoools  also. 

It  should  be  said  in  reference  to  all  of  these  efforts  that  the 
relations  between  the  high  schools  and  the  grammar  schools  at 
Newton  make  a  study  of  this  sort  unusually  fruitful.  The  high 
schools  enjoy  the  enviable  distinction  of  having  provided  for  the 
great  majority  of  the  school  population  of  secondary  age  in  New- 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  37 

ton,  and  of  actually  holding  them.  The  percentage  of  grammar 
school  pupils  who  go  to  high  schools  varies  from  80  per  cent  in 
some  grammar  schools  to  100  per  cent  in  others.  The  high 
schools  enroll  over  a  quarter  of  the  entire  school  attendance. 
This  fact  makes  the  problem  of  articulation  more  generally  felt 
and  also  more  susceptible  of  solution  here  than  where  these  condi- 
tions do  not  prevail.  Moreover  with  this  steadily  increasing 
flow  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  institution  the  mutual  relations 
of  the  teachers  and  officers  in  both  have  become  more  intimate, 
until  one  feels  that  he  may  rely  definitely  upon  an  intelligent 
and  whole-hearted  cooperation. 

In  respect  to  general  features  of  organization  criticism  was 
based  on  the  alleged  fact  that  the  work  of  pupils  in  the  first  year 
of  high  school  showed  marked  deterioration  as  compared  with 
the  work  of  the  same  pupils  in  the  last  year  in  the  grammar 
school.  As  a  possible  cause  for  this  certain  obvious  contrasts 
in  the  two  institutions  were  cited:  the  physical  environment  in 
the  high  school  is  strange  and  bewildering  to  a  new  pupil,  many 
recitation  rooms  take  the  place  of  one ;  the  new  social  influences 
are  distracting,  strange  comrades  and  teachers  intimidate;  the 
supervision  is  greatly  relaxed,  and  the  new  liberty  leads  to  license; 
methods  of  work  are  different,  the  many  teachers  fail  to  reach 
the  pupil  as  the  one  did  before ;  responsibility  is  unsettled ;  class- 
room practice  has  now  changed,  much  now  depends  on  written 
work  and  examination  —  both  comparatively  unfamiliar;  meth- 
ods and  standards  of  the  college-trained  teachers  are  unlike  those 
of  the  normal  graduate;  subjects  of  study  are  new  and  their 
schedule  is  confusing.  Such  are  some  of  the  unfavorable  condi- 
tions with  which  a  pupil  entering  high  school  is  confronted,  and 
which  may  be  responsible  for  his  delayed  adjustment  and  his 
inferior  work.  The  grammar  school,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
criticized  for  the  rigidity  of  its  organization,  the  slight  responsi- 
bility that  it  imposes  on  the  pupil,  its  preference  for  formal 
correctness  over  a  freer  but  more  genuinely  educative  content. 
Two  problems  seemed  to  be  involved:  first,  to  what  extent  is 
this  apparent  maladjustment  actually  reflected  in  lowered  per- 


3  8  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

formance  on  the  part  of  the  individual  pupils  ?  and  for  how  long  ? 
Second,  is  it  possible  to  make  such  modifications  in  the  eighth 
grade  and  in  the  first  year  of  high  school  as  shall  make  the  transi- 
tion from  grammar  school  to  high  school  natural  and  successful  ? 
The  projected  treatment  of  these  questions  was  as  follows :  In 
the  first  problem: 

(a)  Comparison  of   average  individual  ratings   of  first-year 
pupils  for  the  first  quarter  with  their  ratings  for  the  first  and  last 
quarters  of  the  eighth  grade;   also  comparison  of  ratings  before 
and  after  the  eighth-grade-high-school  summer  vacation  with 
ratings  of  the  same  pupil  before  and  after  the  seventh-eighth 
grade  vacation. 

(b)  Analysis  of  the  daily  or  weekly  ratings  of  first-year  pupils 
for  the  first  quarter  to  discover  the  direction  and  speed  of  varia- 
tion during  the  quarter. 

(c)  Special  investigation  of  marked  cases  of  deterioration  to 
determine  in  how  far  the  conditions  are  typical  or  exceptional. 

These  special  studies  were  begun,  but  have  not  yet  been  com- 
pleted. Such  evidence  as  has  thus  far  been  received  appears  to 
indicate  that  the  alleged  deterioration  is  not  typical  and  has  been 
exaggerated. 

The  second  point  dealing  with  possible  modifications  in  the 
two  institutions  awaits  the  consideration  of  a  special  group  of 
teachers  and  principals  chosen  to  make  a  thorough  study  of 
conditions  and  to  devise  such  modifications.  One  step  already 
taken  seems  to  have  fully  justified  itself.  This  was  the  appoint- 
ment in  each  of  the  two  Newton  high  schools  of  a  teacher  fresh 
from  the  work  of  the  eighth  grade  to  act  in  a  sense  as  sponsor 
for  the  first-year  pupils,  to  represent  them  in  the  meetings  of 
the  teaching  staff,  and,  in  general,  to  study  high  school  conditions 
with  a  view  to  modifications  in  their  interests.  These  teachers 
have  filled  a  difficult  position  with  intelligence  and  tact,  and  have 
been  of  much  assistance  in  bringing  about  an  understanding.  It 
is  intended,  of  course,  that  they  return  to  their  grammar  grades 
after  the  one  year  in  the  high  school,  and  that  other  eighth-grade 
teachers  take  their  places.  This  process  dovetails  the  two 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  39 

schools  together  in  a  sense,  and  reacts  as  favorably  upon  the 
various  eighth  grades  as  upon  the  high  schools.  It  would  be 
of  great  value,  were  it  physically  practicable,  for  high  school 
teachers  in  certain  branches,  particularly  in  English,  to  under- 
take instruction  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  High  school 
teachers  in  general  are  much  in  need  of  a  broader  perspective 
in  judging  the  growth  and  requirements  of  a  child's  mind. 

Certain  other  modifications  in  the  high  school  regime  seem 
well  worth  a  trial.  First,  the  concentration  of  at  least  two  and 
preferably  three  of  a  pupil's  subjects  in  one  hand  and  in  one 
room  during  the  first  half-yeaj  seems  feasible  and  likely  to  lessen 
the  present  confusion  in  the  mind  of  a  beginner.  Second,  the 
collection  and  scrutiny  at  least  weekly,  and  at  first  possibly 
daily,  of  each  beginning  pupil's  class  records  from  all  teachers 
should  take  the  place  of  the  present  plan  which  defers  a  general 
round-up  until  five  weeks  after  entrance.  Such  accounting  in- 
variably takes  place  daily  in  the  grammar  school,  and  the  con- 
trast may  well  prove  demoralizing  to  the  pupil  not  trained  to 
the  new  policy.  Third,  teachers  in  the  first  year  would  profit 
by  a  little  systematic  training  in  making  their  lesson  assignments 
reasonable,  clear,  and  minutely  detailed,  in  avoiding  too  free  a 
use  of  the  loose  "  college  "  method  in  the  class-room,  and  in 
adopting  more  of  the  "  follow-up  "  tactics  of  the  grade  teachers 
until  the  lesson  of  personal  responsibility  is  fully  inculcated. 
Fourth,  the  partial  restriction,  for  first-year  pupils,  of  their 
liberties  in  the  building  would  'appear  a  desirable  transitional 
expedient  until  they  have  had  time  to  realize  the  traditions  and 
ideals  of  their  new  environment. 

Similarly  for  the  grammar  school  the  introduction  of  certain 
characteristic  high  school  methods  would  appear  to  be  advis- 
able. First,  the  partial  introduction  of  departmental  instruc- 
tion, requiring  the  pupils  to  pass  from  room  to  room.  Second, 
the  provision  for  large  freedom  of  movement  about  the  building 
for  eighth-grade  pupils,  the  development  in  them  of  greater  per- 
sonal responsibility  for  the  preparation  of  lessons,  and  the  pro- 
vision of  opportunity  for  greater  personal  initiative  and  inde- 


40  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

pendence  in  school  affairs.*  Third,  the  conscious  anticipation 
in  the  grammar  school  of  class-room  methods  and  devices  used 
in  the  high  school;  these  to  be  agreed  upon  in  conferences  be- 
tween teachers  from  both  schools.  To  bring  about  the  fullest 
understanding  there  should  be,  in  addition  to  the  above  measures, 
frequent  mutual  visiting  and  conference  between  the  teachers 
in  these  grades. 

Such  are  the  main  conclusions  thus  far  reached  in  the  con- 
sideration of  this  phase  of  the  topic.  It  is  important  that  they 
be  elaborated  and  revised,  with  a  view  to  immediate  experimental 
introduction. 

Mention  should  be  made,  in  this  connection,  of  a  plan  sug- 
gested by  one  of  the  grammar  masters,  and  at  once  put  into  prac- 
tice by  several  of  them.  As  soon  as  the  earliest  reports  as  to  the 
work  of  their  respective  pupils  in  the  high  schools  were  received 
by  these  masters  an  interview  was  sought  by  them  with  all  those 
who  seemed  not  to  have  fulfilled  reasonable  expectation.  Know- 
ing the  pupils  thoroughly  these  gentlemen  were  usually  able  to 
determine  speedily  where  the  difficulty  lay,  and  in  their  reports 
to  the  high-school  principals  they  often  made  it  possible  to 
remedy  the  trouble  at  once. 

The  second  phase  of  the  articulation  problem  was  undertaken 
by  the  two  high-school  departments  of  English.  Starting  from 
the  claim,  already  quoted,  that  the  work  of  first-year  high-school 
pupils  was  inferior  to  their  work  in  the  grammar  school,  the  fol- 
lowing specific  criticisms  were  formulated :  first-year  high-school 
pupils  suffer  from  (a)  ignorance  of  formal  grammar,  (b)  inability 
to  write  and  speak  correctly,  (c)  inability  to  grasp  the  central 
thoughts  of  a  reading  selection,  and  (d)  from  the  effects  of  an 
uncorrelated  course  of  study  in  literature.  Four  specific  prob- 
lems were  developed  from  a  consideration  of  these  conditions: 
first,  does  ability  in  oral  and  written  English,  shown  in  the  gram- 
mar school,  fail  to  persist  in  the  first  year  in  the  high  school  ? 
second,  are  the  standards  of  achievement  in  composition  in  the 
grammar  school  and  high  school  properly  graded  and  mutually 
understood  ?  third,  what  can  be  expected  of  the  successive  grades 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  41 

in  the  development  of  power  to  grasp  the  central  thoughts  of 
reading  selections  ?  fourth,  how  can  the  choice  of  reading  matter 
in  the  grammar  school  and  high  school  be  systematized  ? 

As  a  basis  for  the  study  of  the  first  and  second  of  these  questions 
a  set  of  themes,  written  without  previous  preparation  by  all  the 
first-year  high-school  pupils  was  sent  to  the  grammar  schools  to  be 
rated  by  the  teachers  who  had  taught  these  pupils  in  the  eighth 
grade;  these  themes  having  first  been  privately  rated  by  the 
high-school  teachers.  Similarly  a  complete  set  of  themes  from 
the  eighth-grade  teachers,  was  sent  to  receive  the  ratings  of  the 
high-school  teachers.  The  last  readers,  —  the  grade  teachers  in 
the  first  case  and  high-school  teachers  in  the  second,  —  were 
asked  to  indicate  their  corrections  in  full  on  the  papers. 

It  was  soon  realized  that  as  a  true  indication  of  progress  or 
deterioration  on  the  part  of  pupils  these  single  bits  of  off-hand 
writings  were  of  little  value.  As  a  comparative  revelation  of  the 
standards  prevailing  among  the  two  groups  of  teachers,  however, 
the  results  were  of  more  interest,  and  the  comments  and  correc- 
tions furnished  material  for  a  program  that  should  lead  to  a 
better  mutual  understanding.  The  following  table  shows  the 
results  of  the  ratings: 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THEME-RATINGS 
I.   First-year  High  School  Themes 

(Figures  indicate  the  percentage  of  the  total  given  to  each  "  mark  ") 
By  Teachers  in A  B  C  D  E  F       Totaling 

(a)  High  Schools ....     8.5         27.          39.1         17.5        6.3         1.6         100% 

(b)  Grammar  Schools    2.1         18.7        44.6         24.3         7.8         2.5         100% 

IT.  Eighth-Grade  Themes 

By  Teachers  in A  B             C            D  E  F  Totaling 

(a)  High  Schools ....     5.1  21.          30.           22.9  15.  6.           100% 

(6)  Grammar  Schools    4.9  13.8        35.6         23.6  14.  8.1         100% 

The  themes  so  rated  were  returned  to  their  respective  schools 
and  carefully  studied,  and  at  a  subsequent  conference  of  all  the 
teachers  concerned  the  chief  points  of  variation  were  brought  up 
and  discussed.  At  this  conference  the  suggestive  proposal  was 
made  that  a  permanent  committee,  with  representatives  both 


42  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 

from  elementary  and  high  schools,  be  appointed  to  correlate  in 
detail  the  work  in  English  of  the  two  systems.  As  appeared 
from  the  discussion,  the  work  of  this  committee  was  conceived 
not  as  a  single  task,  but  as  a  permanent  function.  A  part  of  its 
duty  was  to  serve  as  a  clearing-house  for  the  whole  department. 
The  detailed  needs  of  each  of  the  twelve  grades  were  to  be 
analyzed,  and  then,  through  this  central  committee,  any  special 
piece  of  investigation  or  preparation  done  by  any  teacher  for  his 
own  classes  was  to  be  made  available  in  print  for  the  whole  depart- 
ment, especially  for  those  doing  similar  work.  A  plan  of  this 
kind  obviously  contains  important  possibilities  if  well  worked 
out.  The  combination  of  great  freedom  and  flexibility  with  a 
wealth  of  illustrative  and  supplementary  material  continually 
coming  in,  might  be  organized  in  the  interests  of  an  effective 
economy.  The  notion  of  systematically  pooling  the  results  se- 
cured by  many  workers  in  doing  the  same  task  has  nowhere 
received  due  recognition  in  education. 

A  further  proposal  with  reference  to  closer  articulation  in  Eng- 
lish was  to  the  effect  that  for  each  pupil  in  the  city  a  composition 
portfolio  be  provided  that  should  contain  uncorrected  samples 
of  his  composition  taken  twice  each  year  and  preserved  for 
reference,  comparison,  and  experimental  purposes.  Certainly 
such  an  array  throughout  the  twelve  years  of  a  pupil's  develop- 
ment would  be  very  instructive. 

Other  conferences  on  the  problems  undertaken  by  this  group 
were  in  prospect  as  the  writer  left  Newton,  and  will  be  reported 
in  subsequent  bulletins. 

Study  of  the  articulation  in  science  between  the  grammar 
schools  and  high  schools  was  begun  by  the  two  high-school  science 
departments;  their  chief  problems  were  formulated  as  follows: 
first,  is  the  lack  of  reasoning  ability  in  elementary  science  due  to 
the  failure  of  the  grammar  schools  to  develop  the  requisite  ability, 
or  may  it  be  that  power  to  reason  in  technical  terms  (ohms,  am- 
peres, density,  etc.),  cannot  fairly  be  expected  of  beginning  pu- 
pils whatever  their  ability  in  reasoning  with  simple  terms  ? 
second,  is  correlation  between  the  grammar  school  and  the  high 


HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN  43 

school  in  respect  to  topics  in  elementary  science  practicable  and 
desirable  ?  If  so,  third,  what  topics  may  be  most  profitably 
undertaken  by  the  grammar  school  ? 

In  regard  to  the  first  of  these  questions  it  seemed  possible  to 
devise  a  test  that  would  be  of  some  assistance.  Such  a  test 
would  consist  of  a  series  of  problems  involving  all  the  important 
types  of  reasoning  process  used  in  high-school  courses  in  science. 
The  problems  would  appear  in  two  forms:  first,  expressed  in  the 
purely  technical  terminology  of  science,  and  second,  in  terms 
familiar  to  any  child  who  has  had  arithmetic.  It  was  designed 
to  submit  the  test  so  preparedto  all  high-school  pupils  who  had 
had  or  who  were  taking  physics;  also  to  submit  the  problems  of 
the  simple  series  alone  to  all  first-year  high-school  pupils  and  all 
pupils  of  the  eighth  grade.  From  the  double  test  for  physics 
pupils  it  was  thought  that  the  effect  of  unfamiliarity  with  the 
terms  might  appear  in  proportion  to  the  brevity  of  their  work  in 
the  subject,  and  by  the  single  test  it  was  desired  to  compare  the 
reasoning  ability  in  the  eighth  grade  with  that  in  the  first  year 
of  the  high  school. 

The  study  proceeded  as  far  as  the  construction  of  a  test,  a 
part  of  which  is  given  below. 

SPECIMEN  PROBLEMS  FROM  THE  REASONING  TEST 

I.     i.  Price  varies  directly  as  quantity,  quality  remaining  the  same.    If 
12  bushels  of  potatoes  cost  $9.60,  what  will  16  bushels  cost  ? 

2.  Volume  varies  directly  as  absolute  temperature,  pressure  remain- 
ing constant.     If  50  cc.  of  gas  have  a  temperature  of  273°  A, 
what  will  be  the  volume  at  283°  A  ? 
II.     i.  How  much  will  15  quarts  of  berries  cost  at  12  cents  per  quart  ? 

2.  Current  strength  (ampere)  equals  electric  pressure  (volt)  divided 
by  the  resistance  (ohm).  If  one  volt  will  send  2  amperes  through 
a  certain  resistance,  how  much  current  can  be  sent  through  a  wire 
of  the  same  resistance  by  no  volts  pressure  ? 

III.  i.  Time  varies  inversely  as  the  number  of  men  employed.  Six  men 
can  do  a  piece  of  work  in  4  days;  how  long  would  it  take  10  men 
to  do  the  same  work  ? 

2.  Volume  varies  inversely  as  the  pressure.  How  many  cubic  feet 
of  gas  at  15  Ibs.  per  square  inch  pressure  can  be  obtained  from  a 
gas  tank  of  10  cu.  ft.  capacity  in  which  the  gas  is  under  a  pressure 
of  165  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  ? 


44  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

In  history  the  need  of  better  articulation  was  suggested  by  the 
fact  that  pupils  come  up  for  American  history  in  the  high  school 
with  an  attitude  of  mind  that  indicates  that  the  point  of  view 
from  which  history  is  approached  in  the  high  school  —  the  only 
point  of  view  from  which  it  can  profitably  be  approached  there  — 
has  been  largely  anticipated  in  the  grammar  school,  with  result- 
ing loss  of  interest  and  profit  in  the  high-school  course.  The 
problem  appears  to  be  to  plan  a  course  for  the  school  system  as 
a  whole,  in  which,  at  each  repetition,  the  peculiar  function  of 
history  at  the  given  age  and  state  of  development  of  the  child 
shall  be  clearly  emphasized.  Thus  a  predominantly  biographical 
and  inspirational  treatment  in  the  eighth  grade  would  seem  to 
contrast  properly  with  the  analytical  and  pragmatic  treatment 
in  the  high  school.  The  problem  is  a  good  one  though  some- 
what difficult.  It  was  discussed  at  Newton,  but  has  not  as  yet 
been  followed  up. 

9.  The  analysis  into  fundamental  abilities  of  aggregates  now 
usually  rated  as  units;  e.  g.,  English,  mathematics,  etc.  Also:  The 
invention  of  tests  and  scales  for  the  objective  measurement  of  these 
abilities. 

This  study  also  includes  an  almost  indefinite  number  of  sub- 
problems  the  importance  of  which  is  apparent  to  any  teacher  or 
school  officer  who  seeks  to  free  himself  from  the  error  of  per- 
sonal variation  in  his  judgments  of  the  educational  progress  of  a 
pupil.  The  subject  was  begun  with  a  test  to  determine  the 
practical  efficiency  of  the  Scale  for  the  Measurement  of  Excel- 
lence in  English  Composition  devised  by  Professor  M.  B.  Hille- 
gas  of  Columbia  University,  and  reported  in  the  Teachers  College 
Record  for  September,  1912.  Accurately  stated  the  object  of 
the  test  was  to  determine  the  extent  to  which  the  use  of  a  stand- 
ard scale  of  comparison  will  produce  uniformity  in  the  ratings 
assigned  to  a  given  set  of  exercises  in  English  Composition.1 

1  A  report  of  this  study  and  of  the  enterprise  to  which  it  led  is  contained  in 
Leaflet  No.  115,  Feb.,  1914,  of  the  New  England  Association  of  Teachers  of 
English. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  45 

Fifty  one-page  exercises  were  secured  in  about  equal  numbers 
from  the  fourth,  fifth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades  in  the  grammar 
schools,  from  the  sophomore  and  senior  years  in  the  high  schools 
and  from  a  class  of  mature  "  transfer  "  pupils  promoted  to 
special  work  in  the  high  school  without  having  completed  all  the 
work  of  the  elementary  school.  These  papers  were  sent  in  suc- 
cession to  fifteen  teachers,  five  from  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades, 
five  from  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  and  five  from  the  high 
schools,  with  the  following  instructions:  "  Rate  each  paper  on 
the  scale  of  100  using  as  a  basis  your  own  standard  of  good  Eng- 
lish prose  composition."  After  being  rated  in  this  way  by  all 
of  the  teachers,  the  papers  were  sent  around  again  accompanied 
by  a  typewritten  copy  of  the  "  scale,"  and  the  same  teachers 
were  now  asked  to  mark  each  paper  according  to  their  estimate 
of  its  position  in  the  scale. 

The  results  of  the  ratings  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 
Marking  without  the  scale,  the  judges  assigned  to  the  papers 
values  which  varied  among  themselves  from  30%  in  one  case  to 
85  %  in  another;  the  average  extreme  variation  of  all  fifty  papers 
was  58  %.  When  assigned  with  the  scale  the  ratings  varied  from 
18%  in  one  case  to  73%  in  another. 

As  a  practical  means  for  the  measurement  of  excellence  in 
English  prose  composition  the  test  showed  that  the  Hillegas 
scale,  though  promising,  was  clearly  preliminary  and  inconclu- 
sive, as  the  first  attempt  of  this  sort  could  hardly  fail  to  be.  It 
is  a  "  blanket  "  scale  covering  everything  that  may  be  included 
in  the  term  "  merit,"  and  expressed,  in  its  lower  and  middle 
terms  at  least,  in  samples  that  are  but  slightly  comparable  with 
the  usual  school  product.  Its  chief  virtue  is  the  thoroughly 
scientific  character  of  its  construction;  its  chief  fault  is  that 
under  the  most  favorable  conditions  it  still  admits  a  legitimate 
variation  of  25%  —  a  minimum  which  swells  to  50%  in  rating 
specimens  to  which  its  samples  are  unsuited,  or  when  the  scale 
is  hastily  or  carelessly  applied.  That  it  will  considerably  reduce 
the  limits  of  variation  which  appear  in  a  purely  subjective  rating 
has  been  conclusively  shown  in  the  Newton  tests. 


46  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

The  results  of  the  test  left  the  decided  impression  of  consider- 
able latent  worth  in  the  idea  of  a  scale  in  spite  of  the  difficulties 
attendant  upon  its  elaboration.  It  was  determined,  therefore, 
to  proceed  at  once  with  the  construction  of  a  scale  which  should 
remedy  the  apparent  defects  of  the  Hillegas  Scale  and  be  suited 
to  practical  use  in  the  Newton  schools.  As  the  greater  part  of 
the  work  connected  with  this  "  Newton  "  scale  has  been  done 
under  the  supervision  of  the  writer's  successor,  it  seems  proper 
to  defer  all  discussion  of  it  to  a  later  bulletin.1 

10.  The  division  of  labor  in  teaching:  the  organization  of  class- 
work  to  permit  the  larger  use  of  conspicuous  abilities  in  the  teacher. 

The  intent  of  this  topic  reaches  somewhat  further  than  what  is 
known  as  departmental  teaching,  although  that  is  one  form  of 
such  division  of  labor.  The  question  is  whether,  both  in  the 
grades  and  in  high  school,  gifted  teachers  with  unusual  abilities, 
say,  in  oral  class-room  instruction,  teachers  who  by  force  of 
strong  imagination  and  powers  of  compelling  thought  can  greatly 
stimulate  pupils,  —  whether  such  teachers  should  not  be  en- 
couraged to  conserve  their  powers  and  energy  for  that  purpose. 
Many  such  teachers  can  without  difficulty  hold  the  attention  of 
sixty  or  seventy  pupils  and  secure  a  strong  reaction,  but  if  held 
responsible  for  all  the  work  of  that  number  they  would  find  the 
task  impossible.  The  experiment  would  seek  to  determine 
whether,  by  associating  with  such  a  teacher  a  young  and  possibly 
inexperienced  assistant  who  would  work  under  her  immediate 
direction  and  relieve  her  of  routine  duties,  bookkeeping,  correc- 
tion of  papers,  etc.,  a  larger  number  of  pupils  might  not,  for 
their  essential  instruction,  be  brought  into  contact  with  her 
strong  and  impressive  personality.  Such  an  arrangement  would 
be  especially  suited  to  the  grades,  and  might  prove  an  admirable 
method  of  training  teachers  fresh  from  the  normal  schools. 

1  This  bulletin,  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Ballou,  will  contain  four  scales  for  the  measure- 
ment of  eighth-grade  compositions,  one  in  narration,  one  in  description,  one  in 
exposition,  and  one  in  argument.  Each  sample  in  the  scale  will  be  accompanied 
by  a  paragraph  of  analysis.  The  bulletin  will  be  issued  by  the  Harvard  University 
Press  during  September,  1914. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  47 

In  the  high  school,  provision  for  such  specialization  would 
make  it  possible  for  each  of  three  or  four  teachers  of  Latin  to 
develop  that  phase  of  instruction  in  which  he  was  naturally  most 
adept.  At  present  a  pupil  must  submit  to  the  same  instructor 
both  where  he  is  strong  and  where  he  may  be  wholly  weak  and 
uninspiring.  It  might  prove  possible,  on  the  other  hand,  eventu- 
ally to  secure  expert  service  from  each  of  several  such  teachers 
by  further  specialization. 

ii.  The  effect  of  the  regulation  of  pupils'  program-periods  on 
the  quality  and  quantity  of  their  work. 

Previous  to  September,  1911,  pupils  in  the  two  Newton  high 
schools  had  been  permitted  to  register  for  from  seventeen  to 
twenty  periods  of  work  weekly,  according  to  individual  ambition 
or  circumstances.  After  a  careful  study  of  conditions  there  had 
seemed  good  ground  for  the  belief  that  many  pupils  were  attempt- 
ing too  much  work,  and  that  a  regulation  of  periods  would  both 
improve  the  quality  and  increase  the  amount  of  successful  per- 
formance. For  this  purpose  the  courses  were  laid  out  as  if  for 
five  years  instead  of  four,  requiring  thus  an  average  of  about 
fourteen  periods  per  week  which  was  termed  "  normal  work." 
To  this  program  all  pupils  were  restricted  except  such  as  failed 
in  no  subject  and  the  average  of  whose  ratings  was  at  least  10% 
above  the  passing  mark  of  70%;  such  pupils  were  allowed  to 
take  an  additional  subject  as  long  as  they  maintained  those  con- 
ditions. Revision  of  the  work  of  all  pupils  was  to  come  at  ten- 
week  intervals. 

To  determine  the  actual  effect  of  this  ruling  Superintendent 
Spaulding  suggested  certain  comparisons  as  follows:  first,  com- 
parison of  the  work  of  189  sophomores  in  1910-11,  before  the 
change,  with  the  work  of  167  sophomores  in  1911-12,  after  the 
change;  second,  comparison  of  the  work  of  162  pupils  as  sopho- 
mores in  1910-11,  before  the  change,  with  the  work  of  those  same 
pupils  as  juniors  in  1911-12,  after  the  change.  All  exceptional 
or  uncertain  cases  were  thrown  out  of  account.  For  each  pupil 
there  was  ascertained  under  the  contrasting  conditions: 


48  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

(1)  the  number  of  points  he  attempted  to  earn  by  enrollment; 

(2)  the  number  of  points  he  did  actually  earn; 

(3)  the  number  of  points  for  which  he  originally  enrolled  and 
in  which  he  failed;  this  was  termed  "  gross  waste  "; 

(4)  the  number  of  points  in  which  he  failed,  less  such  points 
of  failure  as  occurred  in  subjects  that,  according  to  the  new  rul- 
ing, he  was  compelled  to  drop  during  the  year;  this  was  termed 
the  "net  waste"; 

(5)  the  percentage  that  the  "  net  waste  "  constituted  of  the 
points  earned; 

(6)  the  average  quality  of  all  his  work  for  the  year. 

In  addition  to  these  items  the  percentage  of  the  class  who  won 
over  70%  on  eighteen  periods  of  work  or  more,  was  secured  in 
each  case,  and,  finally,  there  was  taken  the  percentage  of  each 
group  securing  over  70%  regardless  of  the  number  of  hours. 
Presented  in  tabular  form  the  results  were  as  follows: 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


COMPARISON  OF  PUPIL-PERFORMANCE  BEFORE  AND  AFTER  THE  LIMITATION 

OF  PERIODS 


Comp.     189  Soph's 
I          167      " 

1910-1911        Comp.     162  Pupils  as  (i)  Soph's     'lO-'il 
1911-1912           II                                 (2)  Junior's    '11-12 

20.57 
18.58 

Average  Number  of  Points  1 
Attempted 

20.82 
18.89 

18.36 
16.64 

Earned 

19.06 
16.90 

1-95 
1.70 

Gross  waste 

1.67 
1.77 

1-59 

1.20 

Net  waste 

1.41 
1-33 

8.66% 
7-21% 

Net  waste  is  of  points  earned 

7-40% 
7.87% 

73-77 
73-70 

Average  quality 

75-13% 
72.98% 

61 
45 

Percentage  of  superior  performance 
(Over  70%  on  more  than  18  hours) 

63 
4i 

72 
70 

Percentage  over  70  %  regardless  of 
number  of  hours 

74 
7i 

Loss  1.99 
Loss  1.72  (9.4%) 
Gain  1.45  (Dec.) 
Loss    .07  % 

Balance  of  Gain  or  Loss 

Points  attempted 
Points  earned 
Average  waste  per  point  earned 
Average  quality 

1.93    Loss 
(11.3%)  2.16       " 
(Inc.)     .47%" 
2.15%     " 

It  will  be  seen  that,  when  tested  on  these  three  groups  of  pu- 
pils, the  plan  of  limiting  periods  failed  at  every  point  except  the 
one  in  the  first  comparison  that  showed  a  gain  (decrease)  of  1.45 
points  in  the  average  waste  per  point  earned.  Especially  strik- 
ing is  the  drop  in  quality  in  relation  to  the  number  of  periods, 
termed  above  "  superior  performance."  No  one  can  assert,  of 
course,  that  the  showing  made  here  finally  condemns  the  new 

1  A  "  point  "  is  one  hour  of  recitation  per  week  through  the  year. 


50  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

plan;  it  should  be  verified  repeatedly  with  other  groups  before 
acceptance.  The  study  does,  however,  disclose  the  precarious 
foundation  upon  which  apparently  sound  educational  judgments 
may  sometimes  rest. 

12.  A  psychological  analysis  of  successful  teachers. 

This  topic  is  so  wholly  unexplored  that  to  record  it  here  seems 
scarcely  warranted.  It  was,  however,  seriously  considered,  and, 
had  time  allowed,  would  have  been  undertaken.  The  idea  is,  of 
course,  merely  a  new  application  of  the  form  of  investigation  now 
familiar  at  the  psychological  laboratory  of  Harvard  University. 
The  personal  characteristics  of  successful  teachers  are,  on  the 
whole,  fairly  uniform  as  judged  by  common  experience.  That 
they  should  be  susceptible  of  definite  formulation  in  terms  of 
psychological  reaction  would  not  be  at  all  surprising.  Were  it 
possible  to  arrive  even  at  negative  results,  and  to  determine 
characteristics  that  are  not  compatible  with  success,  the  useful- 
ness of  such  knowledge  would  not  be  slight.  The  study,  however, 
is  one  that  depends  chiefly  on  university  experimenters  and  can 
hardly  be  considered  appropriate  for  the  investigation  of  teachers 
themselves. 


IP 


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